Central United Methodist Church hostage crisis

  

Central United Methodist Church hostage crisis
Part of terrorism in Sierra
Bernheim police near Central United Methodist Church.
Location	Central United Methodist Church, Bernheim, San Joaquin, K.S.
Date	February 12, 2022 (2022-02-12) 1:18 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. (PST)
Attack type	Hostage-taking
Deaths	None
Injured	3 (minor injuries)
Victims	14 (1 released)
Perpetrators	Randolph MacDonald (detained)

On February 12, 2022 Randolph MacDonald entered the Central United Methodist Church in Bernheim, San Joaquin and took 14 people hostage.

At 1:18 p.m., a number of calls from the Central United Methodist Church and the surrounding suburban claimed that armed intruder had entered the church and had taken an unknown amount of people hostage. Responding to the scene almost immediately, officers of the Bernheim Police Department were engaged in a four hour standoff with MacDonald, who threatened to kill hostages if police attempt any form of rescue attempt. At 2:38 p.m., MacDonald would identify himself as a member of the Provisional Sierran Republican Army and demanded to be given direct communication with either Governor Elaine Chao or Prime Minister Susan Kwon. At 4:00 p.m., a hostage, who was suffering from medical problems caused by increased stress, would be released by MacDonald.

After nearly four hours of intense standoff, Bernheim S.W.A.T police stormed the church, initiating an intense gunfight. After two minutes, MacDonald would flee the scene, but would be shot by law enforcement snipers positioned in a building opposite of the church. With MacDonald incapacitated, police would rescue the remaining thirteen hostages, with three of them being treated for minor injuries on site. MacDonald would be transported to Bernheim Metropolitan General Hospital, where he would be placed under stable condition. MacDonald's identity was revealed to the public during a press conference, along with his motive, which was to make Prime Minister Kwon "pay for her betrayal of the republican movement".

Background

Central United Methodist Church

Central United Methodist Church, located near downtown Bernheim, is the largest Christian Methodist church in the city. Founded in 1980, the church is considered one of the more popular Methodist churches in the province of San Joaquin, having a weekly attendance of over a hundred congregants in 2019. In order to promote greater religious participation amongst Bernheim's youth, the Central United Methodist Church would begin organizing youth events on Saturdays, beginning in 2009. These events would generally begin at 12:00 p.m. and would be open to anyone, regardless of church attendance. Situated in the middle of Jacobite and Republican neighborhoods, the church would become a frequent worship place for Protestant Sierran Jacobites. Because of this, the church would also be the frequent target of republican and anti-Jacobite vandalism.

Randolph MacDonald

Randolph Joseph MacDonald would be identified by police and RBI officials shortly after his final phone call to police, where he would unknowingly reveal his identity after mentioning his current residence. His identity would not be revealed to the public until a few hours after his capture during a press conference organized by the RBI.

Born in 2001, MacDonald was raised in a staunchly republican and anti-monarchist household, with his father Duncan MacDonald being a former officer of the Sierran Republican Army and a fighter during The Disturbances. MacDonald would be raised in a chaotic and unstable environment, with his father being emotionally abusive to him and his siblings. According to a psychological report on MacDonald conducted by the RBI, MacDonald would develop intense anxiety and would later be diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder. He would only be diagnosed in 2020, were he would begin therapy. During his early teens, MacDonald would adopt his father's radical and dissident republican views, lashing out at those who he had perceived as "crown lickers". Despite showing educational prose during his high school years, MacDonald would be involved in a number of fights, typically targeting or being targeted by Jacobite students. In 2015 at the age of 14, MacDonald, at the urging of his father, joined the Provisional Sierran Republican Army and would begin to be involved in local Democratic-Republican Party politics. Following the election of Royalist Daniel McComb in 2016, MacDonald and four others would be arrested after attempting to break into a McComb campaign home office in southern Bernheim. MacDonald would be released with a fine. During his late teen years, MacDonald would operate a number of social media accounts that advocated for violence against the Sierran royal family and advocated for a Sierran republic based on landonist principles.

In 2019, MacDonald would begin attending the University of Sierra, Bernheim, where he would share a dorm with Wilbur Williams. During the 2020 federal elections, MacDonald would abandon the Democratic-Republicans in favor of the Social Democrats, finding a job as a campaign intern for Susan Kwon. According to friends, MacDonald was ecstatic after Kwon's victory, believing that she would oversee the abolition of the monarchy. However, as the year progress, friends noted MacDonald's change in opinion, becoming more frustrated and vocally opposed to Kwon's tenure. Following Royalist Elaine Chao's election as governor of San Joaquin, MacDonald would repeatedly joke about assassinating the then governor-elect. During the same time, he would also abandon all faith in Kwon, and would call for her "violent removal" on his social media accounts. Williams would note that from December 2021 to February 2022, MacDonald would dive further into republican extremism.

On February 9, the Parliament Building and several Porciúncula metro centers would be bombed by the PSRA. According to his personal journal obtained after the crisis, MacDonald was surprisingly conflicted by the attacks, believing that the loss of life was unnecessary and would result in a decline in support for republicanism, as seen following the assassination of Steven Hong in 2016. MacDonald's father, on the other hand, was very supportive of the attacks, and constantly lambasted his son for not having a role in them. His father's insults would have a deep effect on MacDonald, with it reportedly being a driving factor in his decision to hold hostages. He would make such a decision on the night of February 11, writing a manifesto on his computer. In it, he criticized Susan Kwon and Elaine Chao for being supporters of the monarchy, and claimed that the former was a "traitor to the people's republican movement" and the latter was a "traitor to her people and the other groups oppressed by the Crown".

Events

MacDonald enters and hostage crisis begins

At around 12:56 p.m., MacDonald would enter Central Unified Methodist Church wearing intensive coverings and a backpack, which authorities believe was carrying a deconstructed M-14 assault rifle. From 12:56 to 1:09 p.m., MacDonald would be seen by victims and security camera footage observing the small crowd, made up of a mix of church staff, children, and parents. At around 1:01 p.m., MacDonald would be greeted by Paul Remmings, the church's head pastor, who invited MacDonald to join the event, which he would refuse. At exactly 1:10 p.m., MacDonald would enter the restroom, which was situated at the only entrance of the church, and would remain their for around sixteen minutes, presumably preparing for the imminent hostage situation. At 1:17 p.m., MacDonald would aggressively exit the restroom and shoot three shoots into the air, ordering the event attendees to lie on the floor or be shot. As MacDonald rushed to block the church entrance, Emily Fischer, a parent at the event, quickly dialed 9-1-1 and request help. This would be noticed by MacDonald, who reportedly wacked Fischer with his rifle and shot the phone, which was still on the line with police dispatch.

Four police units would be dispatched to the church and when they arrived they would be met with warning shots from MacDonald, who claimed that he would start executing hostages if they attempted to storm the church. With this threat, a intense standoff would begin between police and MacDonald. In response to the crisis, twelve Royal Bureau of Investigation crisis negotiators would be sent to Bernheim. Along with that, local San Joaquin Provincial Guard forces would be place on high alert in the event that the hostage crisis was apart of a greater terrorist scheme. According to witness, during the initial stages of the crisis, MacDonald was heard attempting to both calm himself and reassure himself, with security camera footage catching MacDonald saying: "This will all work out" and repeatedly saying "This will be the spark". Remmings would frequently request MacDonald let the young hostages go, but would end his requests after MacDonald threatened to shoot one of them if asked again.

Negotiations

At 1:43 p.m., crisis negotiators would arrive on the scene and would attempt to communicate with MacDonald. Negotiators would initially attempt to communicate with MacDonald through megaphone, but after no response, would attempt to find different ways of communication. However, MacDonald, using the landline inside the church, would instead call police dispatch at 2:13 p.m., who forwarded the call to lead crisis negotiators Henry Danvers. In his first call to police, MacDonald was threatening and aggressive, threatening to "kill these proddy bastards" before hanging up. He would also claim that there was at least two other suspects assisting him. At 2:38 p.m., MacDonald would call police again, this time in a more calm demeaner. In his second call, MacDonald confirmed his allegiance to the Provisional Sierran Republican Army and affirmed that the bombings in Porciúncula were justified. He then demanded to be forwarded to Governor Elaine Chao or Prime Minister Susan Kwon. When asked why he wanted to speak with them, MacDonald became agitated and hanged up.

At 3:00 p.m., MacDonald would call for a third time. He again demanded to speak to Governor Chao or Prime Minister Kwon, insisting that he would let the hostages go if he was able to speak to one of them. Entertaining his idea, crisis negotiators and police dispatch would attempt to contact Governor Chao, as getting the Prime Minister would be much more difficult. While waiting, MacDonald would begin to rant about the political climate in Sierra, expressing his disgust on how "[his] fellow countrymen would elect a purple devil" as San Joaquin's governor and his sadness and anger at Kwon for being a "proddy sellout" who figuratively "sleeps with the tyrants in Hollywood". After an extended period of time, MacDonald would become weary and eventually hang up once again.

From 3:20 to 4:00 p.m., victims would notice that MacDonald would become more increasingly paranoid and mentally unstable, occasionally seen mumbling nonsense to himself. Both camera footage and victims show MacDonald debating himself on the possibility of a Social Democratic victory in upcoming Channel Islands gubernatorial election (despite no Social Democrat running in the race), the failings of late-stage capitalism, and the "certainty" of a war with the United Commonwealth.

Resolution

Around 3:50 p.m., 14 year-old James Ecks would begin to experience symptoms of asthma, most likely caused due to intense stress of the situation. As Ecks continued to worsen, MacDonald, who apparently sympathized with the teen, allowed him to leave at 4:00 p.m. and seek medical treatment from police. After investigation, it would be revealed that MacDonald also suffered from asthma and most likely felt some sort of sympathy. Ecks would be taken by surrounding police and be treated for his illness. There, Ecks described that MacDonald was the only perpetrator and that he was not mentally stable. This would cause a panic amongst police, who believed that MacDonald could snap at any point and execute the victims.

At around 4:47 p.m., observing police forces moving around the church parking lot, MacDonald would order his hostages into the backstage. At the same time, he would call police for a fourth and final time. In the call, MacDonald sounded distressed and panicked, claiming to see police in every corner. Worried that he was about to breakdown, crisis negotiators would attempt to calm MacDonald and convince him into surrendering. Throughout the call, MacDonald expressed the "conflict inside him", stating that he doesn't want to, and won't, kill anybody, but questioned how he could do that while also "lighting the spark that would tear the Monarchy down". Crisis negotiators would continue to speak to MacDonald, distracting him from the maneuvering S.W.A.T officers. This would work until 5:03 p.m., when MacDonald notices the police and began firing. A firefight would ensure between MacDonald and police, with one of the victims being grazed by the flying bulletins. After reportedly running out of ammo, MacDonald would begin to flee the church. Pastor Remmings, knowing that MacDonald was out of bullets, attempted to stop him, but would be overpowered and thrown to the grown by MacDonald.

As police entered the church, MacDonald would exit the building through a backstage window, and would attempt to run to his parked car at the south end of the parking lot. However, he would be seen by police snipers on top of the adjacent convivence store, who shot MacDonald in the chest, believing that he was still armed and dangerous. MacDonald would fly back and land onto the pavement, where police and on-site medical staff would collect and rush him to Bernheim Metropolitan General Hospital

See also

• Provisional Sierran Republican Army