Update: Brighton Beach Hostage Situation
After a five-hour standoff, the police situation near the Brighton Beach Starbucks came to an abrupt and tragic end on Saturday, as police shot and killed Samuel White.
Police allege White kidnapped and raped an ex-girlfriend, who sparked the standoff by escaping out a window to the building’s roof after contacting relatives and informing them of her situation. When police arrived, White was holed up in the apartment with a kitchen knife. After five hours of negotiation, police entered the building to throw a remote viewing device, but White lunged at them and stabbed an officer. After a taser failed to stop him, police shot White five times. He was pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital.
White reportedly had a long rap sheet, with 12 convictions. Five of those were related to his ex-girlfriend, including a previous abduction in which he took her to a Sheepshead Bay hotel.