LIQUOR STORE HOLDUP

Write a story based on these notes from your interview with Lt. Jack Jones of the Centerville Police Department. Deadline: 40 minutes.

A man walked into Freddy's Liquor Store at 427 Main St. at 7:11 this evening and demanded money from the cashier. Cashier had just $18 in the drawer; the robber got angry, pointed a gun at the cashier's forehead. Cops arrived after the cashier had activated a silent alarm with his foot. Robber realized the cops were outside and took the cashier and two customers hostage.

More than a dozen squad cars and a SWAT team surrounded the store. Police contacted the robber by phone. He demanded a getaway car, and said he would take a hostage with him to keep cops from capturing him. Negotiations continued for about 90 minutes; finally the man hung up on the police negotiator, pointed the gun at his temple and fired, killing himself. No one else was injured. The man is identified as Greg Phillips, age 27, a Centerville resident. He had a criminal record - several burglaries and small-time drug dealing. Jones says Phillips served 18 months in state prison for burglary and was paroled two months ago. He used a stolen .22-caliber pistol in the holdup.

You get the cashier on the phone. Name is Fred Johnson. "I thought I was a goner," Johnson says. "That guy had that gun pressed right to my forehead, actually touching it. I thought I was a dead man." Johnson’s voice is still shaking from fright. He tells you the two customers taken hostage with him were a husband and wife, and that she was obviously pregnant. Lt. Jones confirms this, but he doesn't have the names of the couple.