Police: 12 Hostages Freed at Bank in Country of Georgia

Police: 12 Hostages Freed at Bank in Country of Georgia
Georgian policemen and emergencies personnel are deployed outside a bank in Georgia's second-largest city of Kutaisi on Sept. 20, 2022, after an armed man took a dozen hostages demanding a large sum of money. Gela Gogokhia/AFP via Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

TBILISI, Georgia—Police in the country of Georgia said 12 people who were held hostage in a bank by a gunman for hours Tuesday have been freed and hostage-taker has been arrested.

Georgian media reported that the gunman at the bank in the city of Kutaisi had demanded $2 million, a helicopter to leave the country and a Russian flag. The gunman reportedly announced his demands in a video posted on one of the hostages’ Facebook page.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Ketevan Kovziashvili later said the hostages were freed and the gunman detained, but there were no further details.

Kutaisi is a city of 147,000, located 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.