A 20-year-old Jamaican, described by authorities as a "mentally challenged youngster" was nabbed by police early Monday after he took six members of the flight crew of a CanJet Boeing 737 hostage late Sunday in Montego Bay and demanded to be flown to Cuba. None of the hostages were hurt when police stormed the aircraft after eight hours of negotiations broke down, but early in the drama it's alleged that the hijacker almost killed the First Officer, whose face was grazed by a bullet when a gun discharged on the tarmac. Oddly enough, if the hijacker had a ticket, he would have gone to Cuba as the charter flight was scheduled to stop in Santa Clara, Cuba on its way to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The man barged through security guards, all of whom were unarmed, and briefly held some of more than 180 passengers and crew but he quickly set the passengers and two of the crew free after they gave him money. The freed hostages, all Canadian, were taken to local hotels.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/hostages-freed-in-jamaican-standoff