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"Gringo Loco" Holds His
Family Hostage, Kills
Neighbour
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"Gringo Loco" Holds His
Family Hostage, Kills
Neighbour
Frederick Norman Kelch
is being called "Gringo
Loco" by the Spanish
language press after the
48 year old man kept
more than 50 police
officials, including
members of the Organismo
de Investigación
Judicial (OIJ) and the
Dirección de
Inteligencia y Seguridad
(DIS) at bay since
Thursday night.
Kelch, a resident of San
Vicente de Moravia, who
was said by by his
neighbours to be violent
and suffering mental
problems, apparently
lost it Thursday evening
when, dressed in
fatigues and wearing a
ski mask, climbed the
roof of his home and
began shooting in the
air using an assault
rifle and held his own
family hostage for more
than eight hours.
Harlen Diederich Fonseca
Reyes, 28 years of age
and an employee of the
Caja Costarricense de
Seguro Social (CCSS) was
hit in the head and
killed by one the
bullets Kelch fired into
the air while dining in
his girlfriend's home.
Another of the five
stray bullets also
entered the kitchen
window of the home of
Dr, Carlos Chaverri,
head of the transplant
unit at the Hospital
México.
The stand off between
police and Kelch
continued for hours as
he would neither give up
nor allow his family to
leave and would not talk
to OIJ negotiators, who
quickly began protocol
to talk the man down
with a bilingual
negotiator.
Jorge Rojas, director of
the oIJ, said that the
man had a prior criminal
record in the US that
included charges on
drugs and weapons, as
well as robbery and
assaults.
Kelch is a retired
resident of Costa Rica
for more than eight
years.
The drama ended at
6:30am Friday, eight
hours later, when Kelch
decided to give himself
up to authorities
demanding an armoured
vehicle to take him to
jail. Police gave in and
immediately stormed the
home to subdue the man. |
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"Gringo Loco" being taken into custody by authorities.
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