Hostage-taking gunman can’t resist drink offered by drone, but it’s all a trick by police

Police in Michigan used a beverage on a drone to lure a man out of a bank and shoot him dead during a multi-hour hostage standoff in the middle of a packed commercial district.

The man, who has not been identified, took an employee of Mercantile Bank in Saginaw Township hostage around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, state police wrote on X.

The standoff resulted in a half-mile stretch of State Street — a main business thoroughfare in the area — getting shut down for several hours.

The man held the hostage — who was reportedly injured — for several hours as police negotiators attempted to reason with the deranged suspect.

During the tense negotiations, police used a drone to deliver a drink to the parched man, and used the opportunity to end the standoff when he came out to retrieve it.

“When he exposed himself, the trooper was able to take a shot, Michigan State Police spokesperson Lt. Kim Vetter said.

Gawkers filming the encounter were asked by police to stop filming as the drone descended toward the bank, MLive reported.

Spectators reported hearing an explosion around 8:05 p.m. that night, the outlet writes, prompting ambulances to rush to the scene.

The freed hostage was taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries and has since been discharged in “good” condition, Vetter said.