ABSTRACT
Suicide of suspects and offenders during confrontations with police is quite common. Dwayne Fuselier and his colleagues at the FBI presented several cases of hostage/barricade incidents in which the perpetrator committed suicide, and they also presented a profile of the typical perpetrator. Fuselier distinguished between hostage situations and pseudo-hostage situations. In hostage situations, a person is held and threatened by the perpetrator in order to obtain the fulfilment of some demand. In pseudo-hostage situations, the victim is threatened or harmed, but there are no demands made to a third party. Police departments should set up guidelines for legally acceptable tactical actions.
