The man barricaded himself inside. Photo / Reuters
The man barricaded himself inside. Photo / Reuters
KEY POINTS:
Italian police stormed a kindergarten on Wednesday to free 11 children and their teacher taken hostage by a man demanding money, police said.
The 32-year-old man was arrested after a six-hour stand-off at the pre-school in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy.
Armed with a knife, he had barricaded himselfinto the classroom in the early morning, demanding 500,000 euros ($931,797.82). He released some of the 11 children in the class throughout the day while negotiating with the local mayor.
Police sources said he had no children of his own. He had initially tried to enter a different kindergarten but had been turned away by staff.
During the day, Italian television accepted his demand to be filmed and a brief clip showed him in a classroom shouting incomprehensibly at the camera with children playing around him.
