The Torp hostage crisis occurred on 28 September 1994 at

Sandefjord Airport, Torp Sandefjord Airport, Torp ( no, Sandefjord lufthavn, Torp; ) is an international airport located northeast of Sandefjord, Norway and south of Oslo. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for Ves ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Two Swedish robbers took two police officers and two pensioners as

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

s. The police freed the hostages and killed one of the hostage takers. It is the only peacetime incident in which a Norwegian chief of police has given the order to shoot to kill.

Events

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

citizens Rasid Koca, originally from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, and Zvonimir Majdek, originally from

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, stole 1.5 million kroner from a small post office in Østre Halsen, just outside

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

. Their car broke down during the escape, and they eventually ended up in the homes of an elderly couple in Larvik after taking a 44-year-old female

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

as hostage the night after the robbery. A negotiator from

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

police station was brought in to negotiate with the hostage takers and communicated with them through police radio, which meant that the entire press was able to listen in. They were led to believe that they would be given an

airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spe ...

at the nearest airport, Torp, but upon arrival they quickly realised that they had been fooled. In an attempt to give the hostage takers new batteries for the police radio, the negotiator was himself taken hostage. He was then told that he was going to be killed if the demands of the kidnappers were not met, which was a sum of US$10 million and passage out of the country within the hour. He was forced to do the countdown to his own execution, every five minutes from 8:30. At 8:58, he reported over the radio, "it's now 2 minutes until I will get shot". A few seconds later, the

police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

launched an attack that saved all the hostages and killed Rasid Koca. He was killed instantaneously by a Delta sniper. This is the only time a direct order to shoot to kill has been given in Norway during peace time. Due to the MS Estonia sinking, the incident received little press attention, although a miniseries titled ''

Deadline Torp Deadline Torp, also known as Torp-Dramaet, is a TV miniseries co-written by crime author Jo Nesbø based on the true events of the 1994 Torp hostage crisis. It was produced for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. It tells the true story of ...

'' was made for the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

(NRK), in 2005. It has since been released on DVD.

References

{{reflist 1994 crimes in Norway Hostage taking