The following dramatization
is inspired by an actual event.
Composite and fictionalized characters have been used.
- You failed.
- Okay, good. The island Napoleon was first exiled to?
- Oh, wait, I know that one. - All right.
- Um... - Bum, bum, bum, bum.
Elba.
Roman god of war?
- Ares. - Ares is a constellation.
I'm looking for a god.
Mars, like the candy bar?
Maybe you've heard of it?
We are in trouble here, kiddies.
I know you guys got a lot on your minds.
Date to the big dance.
Football game, winter break.
But next Monday, we gotta face the music.
So, I suggest we suck it up,
and we show everybody in the world that nobody,
and I mean nobody
messes with Kenny Kroft's Johnson Jackals
Academic Decathlon Team!
All right?
Nobody!
Now get outta here.
Wake up, now.
Hey, hey, hey, hey,
I wanna see you all here tomorrow at two.
None of this senior ski day routine.
I'm stuck here,
you guys are stuck here, all right.
Stopping by.
Hey, Aaron.
Look, you gonna bless us with your presence, you know.
Girls won't participate.
I knew you knew those answers.
- Then there's no problem.
Hasta manana, Mr. K. - Yeah.
Okie dokie, Aaron.
Where you been all night?
Hand me my cigarettes.
- You don't need them.
You know what they told you.
- I don't need no advice from you, mister.
What I need is for you to
start pulling your weight, and get yourself another job,
'cause your rent is going up.
- What? My what?
Mom, I'm paying more than my fair share already.
- Listen. You are a grown man.
I can't do this alone anymore.
If I don't get my medical premiums in on time this month,
Mr. E. Walsh is gonna cut me off flat.
And then what's gonna happen?
- Why you always asking me?
Where you going?
Where the hell you going?
- Five, six, seven, eight. - Check 'em out here
trying to bust a move.
Girlfriend got two left feet.
I mean, she's gonna make a fool outta herself.
Go help her out. - I'mma do that.
- Go Travis, go Travis, go Travis,
can't play out here, get the way out here.
- Oh shit. - Nicole!
- Oh, all right, get off, off my boy, off my boy.
Ah, incoming freshmen.
An 11-year-old girl
was the latest tragic casualty
of gang violence in Los Angeles today.
The child was asleep in her bed.
- I was watching that. - Big city.
That's what you want.
Looks real beautiful.
- It doesn't have to be L.A.
We live in a big country.
It could be any other city.
- Like where, San Francisco? - That's a very pretty town.
- So a freeway can fall on us during an earthquake?
Or how about your beloved New York,
so the girls can go to school with metal detectors?
I grew up here, and I'm not leaving.
- You know? Maybe they're right.
Maybe I wasn't cut out to be a cop.
I mean, I'm a podiatrist's son, for god's sake.
I wasn't even able to have a BB gun.
You'll shoot yourself in the eye.
- I'm not laughing, Skip. - Yeah, but you will.
I want you to laugh, Margaret.
- My father is a great judge of character.
And he never would have hired you
if you weren't right for this job.
- Yeah, but unfortunately, your father is no longer sheriff.
Unfortunately, he's not calling the shots.
And day after day after day, I'm stuck in an office
with a bunch of rednecks who think that your husband,
their father, is a joke.
- All right, guys, sit down, listen up, will ya.
We got today's hot list,
we got two OTL's on the hit parade.
We got Susan Dixon, juvenile runaway.
She's 14 years old- - Let me guess.
Last seen in the company of her boyfriend.
That's right.
Last seen in the company of her boyfriend, thank you.
See, it's not our job to comment.
We just go out, we find her, we just bring her back,
so we can do it all again next week.
The Watkins Brothers out by Route 14
have been duking it out again.
Let's see, Matt and Crawford,
you wanna stop by the steakhouse along about noon
and talk to those boys, thank you.
Last and least, we got the Johnson High School
homecoming dance tomorrow night.
Yeah, we need a babysitter to go out
and make sure that these esteemed scholars
don't drink themselves into oblivion,
and rearrange our telephone poles.
So, I took a drawing, and guess who won?
Skippy!
- Thank you everybody, meeting's dismissed. Have a good one.
We're counting on you, big guy.
- Look, ma, don't forget to pick me up after school.
There's a reading at the college I wanna check out.
- Aaron, this is getting to be a real drag.
I can't structure my days around you, I have my own classes.
When are you gonna get your license?
It's been two years.
I'm tired of playing chauffer. - Fine, fine.
I'll walk,
but, don't expect me to help you with your homework anymore.
- You are so lucky I need you to pass.
Aww, Aaron, are you sure you won't reconsider?
- Look, Ma, don't start.
- I got kicked outta high school
for wearing a granny dress and no bra.
- Oh my god! - I refused to shave my legs,
and I certainly wasn't gonna go to any school dance, but,
you know, sometimes I regret it.
- I'll take my chances.
Love you. - Oh, honey.
- Sir, howdy do?
I don't think so.
I got it. What about your brother?
- Are you serious? - He's perfect.
He fills up the tux, you do not have to be nice to him,
and you know he's not gonna attack you
at the end- - Okay.
I'm not going to the homecoming dance
with my little brother.
- Well, you're not staying home.
You're not giving them the satisfaction.
- I couldn't care less what they think, actually.
Hope they're happy together.
They're perfect for each other.
Losers.
Who's car we taking?
- Yours. - Yeah.
- Whoa, no wait, we can't take mine.
If they got my license plate pulling out of the parking lot,
my parents would kill me.
They'd lock me in my room until I'm 47.
47, Sam. - Uh huh.
Fine, we'll take my car for a change.
My dad knows I'm ditching anyway,
so. - Whoa!
Wait a second, you told your old man
that you're ditching school, and he said okay.
- Yeah, after a two-hour argument.
- We're ready to go? Who's car we taking?
- I changed my mind. It's too crowded.
- Know what? Think I changed my mind, too.
- Me too. - See ya.
- Bye!
- Here you go, ladies.
Take all you need, but use all you take.
And remember what they say,
you're only cheating yourselves.
I can't believe I'm copying homework.
I'm not supposed to be here, anyway today.
Oh, Kroft, Kroft.
- Hi, Mr. Kroft. - Jennifer.
- Good morning, Mr. Kroft. - Let's take a walk.
Close the door.
Aaron, I turn in my midterm grades three weeks from today.
Have a seat.
Unless you do a major turnaround
the second half of the year, you're not gonna graduate.
- That's not a good thing, is it?
- No, it's not.
You know,
when I was growing up, I had this friend, Bobby Powell.
Best natural baseball player I ever saw.
Guy could roll out of bed, stroke a double up the alley.
Never trained a day in his life, never thought he had to.
You know what happened?
Everybody caught up and finally passed him.
All that natural ability right down the drain.
A wise ass attitude and a handful of talent
only take you so far.
And if you refuse to do your homework assignments,
you're not gonna get a diploma.
- It's just a piece of paper.
- So, I'll station myself right here in the parking lot
that way I'll able to
intercept any child who is thoughtful enough
to bring his own liquid refreshments.
Everything is under control.
- Principal Dresser's out there with a deputy.
He must be getting serious about kids cutting out.
Come give me a hand with these beakers.
Uh, hey, want me to give you a hand?
Better let the master do it.
I'll take care of it.
- Thank you.
- I thought he took off.
Did the cops ground him or something?
- Transportation problem, nobody wanted to drive.
Okay, class open your books to page 118.
Jason.
Jason?
You can't hide in there forever.
I need you to ride up to the store
to pick up my prescription.
- Yo, Mr. Substitute,
I don't know who gave you them wack notes,
but you better go check with Principal Dresser or something,
'cause this is not Spanish.
This here is Chinese.
Your kung fu's good, but mine's better.
- Very funny.
I'm sure you have a bright future
as a standup comedian.
We've got 55 minutes together,
so let's not make this any more painful than it has to be.
Everybody open your books.
- Okay, senor.
Dear Mom,
I want you to know that I don't blame you.
I'm sorry for acting mean sometimes.
I know you've always done the best you could.
No matter what people tell you,
none of this is due to bad parenting.
- Social uprising isn't just a part of our distant past.
What about what happened in L.A.
after the Rodney King verdict?
Jennifer?
- I don't know if that was a social uprising, I mean,
I bet that most of the rioters didn't even know
who Rodney King was.
They were just using it as an excuse to steal stuff.
Okay.
Sometimes the disappointment
is too much to take.
I love you.
- Hey, what about my cousin, Leo?
Maybe he'd drive up for the weekend.
No.
I'm not going.
Besides, he's not gonna come all the way out here
just for me.
- What about Aaron Sullivan?
He's kinda cute. In a weird way.
Forgive me.
- Excuse me.
Hello.
P.S., if I die today,
bury me someplace beautiful.
- And since there's injustice everywhere,
nowadays when it's so tough on the streets,
you do it to me, and I'll do it to you.
Just like the Old Testament says,
and eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
- All right. - Good stuff, huh?
- Powerful, intelligent, concise writing
- from our boy, Travis. - What, what?
Y'all just jealous.
Audrey, you're up, come on.
- I'm outta here. Watch this.
Oh man.
- Ladies and gentlemen, in tonight's main event,
all the way from South Central L.A., we have
the scrappy Have Nots taking on the undisputed champion
Haves for all the marbles.
- Remember me?
Dr. Livingston, I presume?
- I'm supposed to go to Copper Lake
three times a week for night school.
Answer is
what the hell are you talking about?
- I wonder who forgot their homework in Mr. Harkin's class.
- Get back in your seats, everybody just, just calm down.
Stay here.
Stay here, I'll be right back.
What did he do?
- What's going on out here?
Everybody get under your desks, now, do it!
Students, hurry up!
Please, don't shoot!
Please don't shoot!
No, please don't shoot.
Please don't shoot me.
- Okay, I want everybody quiet.
No, just stay back.
Hear me, I'm gonna get help.
Just stay back. - No Miss Davis!
- Stay back. - Oh my god!
Tape off this area.
You go right here around the cruiser.
Out to the front of the car.
Go, go, go!
All right, come on, let's go, move!
Don't shoot!
- Oh, you come here, don't move.
- Okay. - Don't move!
I want the teachers out of the building.
If I see any police, I'm gonna kill everyone.
Move it! Move it.
Go. Go.
Get up there.
- There's no other shooting?
- Why would someone do something like this?
- Let's not worry about why, let's worry about who.
- Miss Richard's just saw a man entering the building
with weapons and guns all over him.
- Hey, Eckert!
Eckert, come here.
I want you to look for a teacher, Miss Richards.
She had some contact with the gunman.
Mr. Dresser, why don't you go with him and point her out.
- I know who she is. My daughter has her for English.
- Man, I'm sorry, I forgot. - That's all right.
She's not here.
I let her ditch to go skiing.
Had a big fight. I'll go find Miss Richards.
- Fine!
Fine! - Coming, coming.
- Look, gather together
all the kids who were in the building at the time,
and take them someplace for debriefing.
- Where exactly?
- You're a cop, for crying out loud.
Figure it out. - You can use the cafeteria.
I'll show you where it is. - Thank you.
- All of you, get back, get back! Get back!
Don't move! Don't move!
Sit down, sit down! Everybody, sit down!
All of you, sit down! Sit down!
Don't know, I don't know what he wants
or who this guy is. - Shut up! I said shut up!
You two, what's your names?
- Frankie. - Willie.
- Move it, come on! Get over here!
Come on! Come on!
Come on!
Get over there, get there, get up, get over there!
Now listen, I want you at the top of the stairs,
and I want you at the bottom.
Okay, and if you see some cops,
or you try to escape and you don't tell me,
people are gonna die.
You hear me? - Mm-hmm.
- You hear me? - Yes sir!
- Move it, move, move it now!
You tell them not to screw around! I mean it!
He's not screwing around, they better get back.
- You tell them if I see anybody with a gun,
I'll start shooting people.
- He sees a gun, he's gonna kill people.
- If he sees any of you guys,
he's gonna light this whole place up.
- Copy that, over.
He's got a room full of kids up there,
and he's threatening to blow up the building.
Ellis! Cut the power of that wing.
- Gary, I spoke to Miss Richards.
She got a look, average this, average that, nothing much.
- Who's our hostage negotiator?
Do we even have one? - Yeah.
Yeah, I sent a guy to the FBI course last summer.
God help us.
Where's my mother? I need my mother.
- Jen, come on.
Come on, we gotta get outta here.
- Okay, everybody listen up.
Now, sooner or later, they're gonna come for us.
And when they do, just everybody just cooperate with them.
Okay?
Why do you think they're doing this?
- Help, help! - What's wrong, Jimmy?
I've fallen and I can't get up.
- He wants everybody to come into the other room.
What?
- He says if you don't come now,
he's gonna kill five of my friends.
- Okay, um, everybody come on, let's go.
Remember, just like we talked about.
Everybody just, just keep your mouths shut.
Come on, come on. - Not you, Mr. Braddock.
- No, I'm not gonna let them- - Please, he said no teachers.
- No- - Mr. Braddock.
You said it yourself. We better do what they say.
Hurry.
- Okay, uh, just do what they say, everything's gonna be-
- He wants everybody in a straight line.
Okay.
We got the south side.
Can we get some tear gas in there?
It's okay, Jennifer.
Come on.
Come on, you gotta try, come on.
- I told you to shut up!
Get in there. Get in there, move it!
Gimme that, let go of that.
- Just do what he says. - Get in there, go, go, go!
Get over there.
Get in, get in, go! Go!
Go! Go!
Move it, go! Go!
Will you shut up? I told you to be quiet.
Please, it's gonna be okay.
- Don't! - Hey, hey, easy!
- Don't, don't! - Easy, easy.
I wasn't trying anything. - Get back! Sit down!
Don't move!
- I'll do whatever you say.
Get down.
You want me to make an example outta you?
Sit down.
You people better pay attention to who's in charge now.
All right, Charlie, I'm gonna go-
Ellis, keep those people back.
- My son.
- Ma'am? - My son goes to this school.
- Just calm down. - You know, you know my son.
You know Travis. Don't you know my son?
He- - Calm down.
- Oh my god.
Travis! - Wait.
- Richard? - Where are you?
Ellie?
- Where's my baby? - Travis? Travis?
Travis? Do you know my son?
Travis?
Do you know my- - Make way.
I need help.
Make way.
- Richard! - Wanna talk with you.
- Bring it in, bring it in!
Set it down there, get back, get back to the stairs.
Set it down right there on the desk.
Sit down. Sit down!
No, get back. Go to the stairs!
You. - Me?
- You! Yeah you, get up here.
Get up here, open it. Open it.
Get it.
- Hello?
- Hello, I'm Skip Fine, I'm from the Sheriff's department,
and who am I talking to?
- Aaron Sullivan.
- Hi Aaron, now listen.
I know you've got a problem up there,
and I'm here to help you.
So, if you just tell me what it is you want-
- Hey! Keep an eye on those stairs!
We can get it for you, you can come on out,
and then we can let all those kids go, okay?
- Uh, I think you got the wrong-
- Who is it?
I think you got the wrong guy.
- What do they want?
- I'm, like, one of the prisoners.
- How long till the FBI gets here?
- They promised less than 30 minutes.
- Well, they better hurry. - Okay, now Aaron,
could you do me a favor please?
Would you ask the gentleman with the gun
to please get on the phone- - What do they want?
- So I can speak to him directly?
- Oh, hold on.
It's for you.
It's the cops.
- Set it down. Get back, get back.
What? - Hi, this is Skip Fine.
I'm with the Sheriff's Department, I'm a negotiator.
Who am I talking to?
- Never mind. - I don't care
if it's your real name or not,
I just don't wanna feel like I'm talking to the air,
you know?
- He wants a name.
I need a name! - Uh, George.
- I'm George.
- Hi George. My name is Skip.
I'm a negotiator with the Sheriff's Department,
and I'm here to help you.
- Oh yeah, well, Mr. Kroft, man, he wanted to help me too.
- Okay, and who is Mr. Kraft? - Kroft.
- Mr. Kroft, he tried to help me pass,
and then he flunked my ass with one fricking grade.
Knocked everything down, all my dreams.
- You know, it is very apparent to me
that this really upsets you.
- Upsets me, you're damn right it upsets me.
It ruined my life.
I worked my ass off for those grades.
- This maniac had Kroft as a teacher.
So, pull the yearbooks, and have the teacher who saw him
see if she can pick him out.
Okay? - Got it.
Turned out that paper was not in there,
and he says, "Buzz, you failed!"
What are you staring at?
- Okay, now look- - And he wants me to go to
Copper's Lake tonight to night school three nights a week
without a car?
I didn't have a car, man.
I just got one. - Okay, all right, but look.
Why don't we start fresh
right now? - It's too late.
- It's not too late, George, come on.
Listen, we-
- Come on, come on, keep looking.
Maybe something'll ring a bell.
- He couldn't have positioned himself more strategically.
There's no way we could even think about placing a sniper
before nightfall. - What are you looking at?
Huh?
You know me?
Did I have a class with some of you people?
You morons, you weren't even here when I was here.
Look at this garbage they force you to do.
It don't mean crap in the real world.
Who's room is this?
- Mrs. Yules.
- Oh, that bitch.
She insulted my sister one time.
Even came to my house and knocked on my door.
"Beth Copeland here?
"Beth Copeland here?"
- Last name, Copeland.
- Jason.
He's gonna kill us, he's crazy.
- No he's not. He's just trying to scare us.
- That doesn't mean anything for sure.
- What was that? What was it, huh?
I heard somebody say something.
Now who was it?
Was it you?
- It was me.
I...
My friend's not feeling well,
and she needs to go to the bathroom.
- What's wrong with her?
- She's pregnant.
- What the hell are you doing in school?
- Please?
Can't you just let her go?
I mean, it's just one person.
- She doesn't get better later, I'll send her down.
But if you're lying to me.
You can go to the bathroom.
But you got five minutes, you understand me?
And if you don't come back,
or you're late, you're gonna kill some of your friends.
Frankie! Keep an eye on her, she's going to the bathroom.
She's got two minutes.
Come with us, let's go, this way.
This way.
What the hell is that?
Frankie, I hear something.
Get up here, or I'm gonna shoot somebody!
- Just keep going. - Hold it, I can't.
- Watch your step. - He's gonna kill everybody!
That's it!
- Let me go! - Here you go.
- I let her go to the fricking bathroom, and what happens?
What did I say was gonna happen if she didn't come back?
It's the law.
- Get it.
- Hello?
- Uh, George.
- This is Aaron. - Aaron, Aaron,
is everything all right?
Is everything okay up there?
- He shot the clock.
- He shot the clock, okay, he shot the clock.
- How'd they get so close, huh?
You were supposed to be watching them.
- What was I supposed to do?
They just came up and got her. - Don't screw with me Frankie.
You, get downstairs, go!
Run! Get over there and watch.
- Now, listen, uh, Aaron, tell me this.
Without letting him know are there more
than 10 people in that room with you?
- Uh-huh. - Okay.
Are there more than 20?
Aaron, are there more than 20 people in the room with you?
Is he standing very, very close to you?
- What's he saying?
- They wanna know where you're standing?
- You tell them I'm right in front of a room full of people
with a loaded shotgun.
- Aaron?
Aaron, now please listen to me, never
never tell him what I'm telling you, okay?
Lie to him if you have to, okay?
I can't do this by myself.
We're gonna become a team now, okay?
- You listen to me, man.
I'm gonna start sending them down in pieces,
and it's your fault.
- Now, just give me a second.
Just explain to me what it is that I-
You keep this under control.
- I'm gonna write that down.
Anyone over here?
- Hey, hey. - Listen, listen,
I wanna talk to everybody all at once.
Listen to me, I'm gonna talk to everybody all at one time.
Listen, if you can just let me through now.
I'm gonna talk to everybody. - Where's my son?
- Just give me a second.
Now, listen every...
Dammit.
Listen, if you all just please settle down.
- What is going on? Please?
I just wanna see my son.
- We have a trained negotiator who is talking to the gunman,
and we have every reason to believe
that this thing is gonna be settled shortly.
- Very shortly? - Shortly?
- Very soon, but we don't know. It depends.
I'm gonna need a little bit of help, okay?
- A lot of us didn't do well in high school.
Let me tell you, I'm for one, you know.
I can't even spell.
It ain't just that.
It's the other disappointments.
- But then, George, let's not make another one.
You know, there is still time to end this peacefully.
And no one else has to get hurt.
Oh yeah, right.
The minute I walk through that door,
you guys wanna shoot me down like a dog.
- Nobody is gonna do anything of the kind while I'm here.
I mean, no one has died yet, George.
Don't you wanna keep it that way?
- What?
- I said no one has died yet.
- Kroft.
I shot him up close.
- Yeah, you did, but he's gonna make it.
- I made a point, right?
I mean, I taught him.
- You certainly made a point.
But why don't you just tell me what is it that you want?
What are you thinking about?
What's that noise?
I heard something? - George,
we will check it from down here.
I will send one of my guys- - Frankie, come here!
Go check it out, man.
Don't lie to me. - All right.
- Go! - Okay.
Please, don't shoot.
I'm a student.
I'm coming in.
- Oh my god. - What's going on?
What's going on?
- Who's down there, Frankie?
Are you talking to someone?
Listen, you better bring them back by the count of three.
I'm gonna kill someone.
One!
- Oh my god! - Two!
- Don't, don't shoot!
I found him!
We're coming out.
- Fine? Brown, FBI.
He's an experienced negotiator.
Why don't I take a crack?
- Be my guest.
His name is George.
- We have to make a move and soon
before he realizes there's other people in that class.
- Can you get in there?
- We'll come down from the roof, take out the window.
- He'll hear that.
- Maybe yes, maybe no.
But the door to the room's closed.
If you can keep him busy on the phone-
- It's a crap shoot.
- Let's rock and roll.
You up there, Mike?
Okay.
Perimeter is secure.
- Hello George, my name is Kyle Brown.
I'm with the FBI. I'd like to try to help you.
- Oh, yeah, right. Now, suddenly everybody wants to help.
- George, if you'll just work with me here,
I'm sure we can clear up this whole misunderstanding.
- Listen, I'm warning you.
I don't want any FBI guys trying anything.
I know about you guys. Don't screw with me.
- I absolutely will not. - You better not
because I got a room full of kids with me.
- Now, that sounds like a lot of people
for one man to watch.
Why don't you send some of them out.
- Oh, so they can tell you where I'm at?
- George, everyone out here is very, very concerned,
but no one will do anything unless I say so.
Who's that, who's that?
- Back from the window.
- I don't think so, man.
- George?
- Don't move, don't move!
George, talk to me, George.
Get that ladder around to the side.
Roberts on three! - Up there, Mike?
Okay.
- Hey. Hi.
- Hi, how'd you get past the blockade?
- Who's gonna stop me?
- That's a stupid question.
- They told me you were the contact to the gunman.
- Yeah, but, the FBI got their gopher.
- They have no right to pull you out of there.
- I didn't know what I was doing.
I couldn't live with
a room full of dead kids on my conscience.
Come on, get a move on it.
- Fine! Fine, get in there.
He'll only talk to you.
- You can do it. You'll be great.
Let's go!
Try to station this area here.
Okay, right.
Okay, I thought you had him on this side here.
Okay.
- You lied again, Frankie.
You knew they were out there, why didn't you tell me?
One more time, and that's it, all right?
Get the phone!
Get back to the stairs, go, go!
Hi.
Who am I talking to? - Charlie Brown, speaking.
- No really, who's on the line?
- It's that other cop, the one you wanted to talk to.
- Tell him I don't wanna hear that FBI guy's voice again.
He doesn't wanna hear that FBI guy's voice again.
- Ah, no problem.
- And tell him to turn on the power and the heat.
It's freezing in here.
- And he wants you to turn on the power and the heat.
- All right, power and heat. - And some aspirin.
- Aspirin.
- Is that okay, 'cause I have kind of a headache.
Yeah, and some aspirin.
- And, um, some pizza?
What? Hostages always get pizza.
I've seen it in the movies.
I only got five bucks.
- That's okay, the cops will pay for it.
It's part of the rules.
- Who wants pizza?
- I do. - Yeah, I do, man.
Me.
Me too.
- All right, but we all gotta agree on a topping.
Pepperoni, vegetarian, anchovies, pepperoni,
Canadian bacon, black olives.
- All right, give me the phone.
- Extra garlic. - Ham.
- Hey, listen up.
We want 15 extra large pepperoni pizzas
and we want five six packs of root beer and five of cola.
And we want a thing of aspirin.
And we want them here in 15 minutes.
Okay, 15 minutes.
Okay.
Does anybody know the number for the pizza?
- That's his room, don't go in there.
No you don't have a right to be in here.
And he, just, oh, he, he wouldn't do this thing, right?
I mean, just, just yesterday,
there were kids in the back yard, and he,
one of them had an air rifle.
And he shot, he shot a bird,
and he, Dana, what for?
He wouldn't, he wouldn't do this.
And these, they're just targets.
He likes to go to the range.
He had four...
He cried when they're-
No, get outta here! Get outta here, all of you.
I don't want you in here.
No, no, those are his, his secret books.
- Miss Copeland. - He likes to read.
- We'd like you to take a ride with us over to Johnson.
No, I can't. I can't go, I can't.
- Anybody's a senior?
You're the only one?
Who's not gonna graduate? You're screwed.
Take it from me. You can't get a job.
No job, no money.
No money, no nothing.
I had a good job, 240 bucks a week,
installing the microchips in the computers.
I mean, that's the most important part.
I mean, without the chip, there's nothing.
And then they canned me 'cause of no damn diploma.
I just gave you all A's.
- Check this out.
You got a call on line six.
Well, that's great.
We got a room full of hostages
who have no sense of their own mortality,
and a suicidal gunman who only wants to talk to a local.
- You know, wait a minute. I don't need a play-by-play.
I didn't ask for this job.
He wanted me on the phone, okay, I'm so sorry.
So, either grab an oar and start to paddle,
or get out of the boat.
- Wait a minute. We're all on the same side here.
I'm here to help.
- We're all waiting.
Look, this kid absolutely wants to believe
that he hasn't killed anybody,
and that's exactly what we should keep him
and everybody else in that room believing.
- Yes, but what about the families?
I got them in the gym, we need to tell them something.
It's not right.
- Our responsibility is to the children
that are still alive in that room.
- Can't we pull the families aside
so they don't mix with anyone?
- What happens if they talk to other family members
who then in turn talk to the media?
- What if it was one of your kids up there in that room?
- Then my daughter would still be lying there
an hour from now.
- Okay. - Okay.
- Gotta calm down, you're gonna make yourself sick.
- They've got my baby in there.
- Mine too.
But, it's not gonna do any good to get all worked up
until we know something.
- Okay.
- Aww. - Okay.
- Hey, George?
It's probably none of my business, but,
well, I was just wondering.
You think maybe you're putting a little too much importance
on this diploma thing?
- Oh yeah, smart guy?
Try talking to me after you've been beat up
in the real world awhile.
- I'm probably gonna get the chance.
My grade point average is so low,
I have to bend over just to look for it.
You know, there's, there's time. We're young.
Hey, uh, can we go get the TV
from Mr. Braddock's room?
- Come on. - Yeah.
Yeah, go, get it.
- All right, cool. - All right.
We can watch ourselves on the news.
- Tell Randall to cut the cable to the building.
Are you kidding?
It says right here in the manual.
Here, isolate the subject from the outside world.
I don't want this kid getting any information
that doesn't come from me.
Please move now.
I don't know who's worse.
Your boyfriend's not too bright, is he?
- He's not my boyfriend.
- But, I always used to see you guys together.
- Yeah, well, ancient history.
Get it.
- I, I gotta go.
It's for me.
Hello?
- Aaron, are you alone on this line?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Now, without counting,
can you tell me how many people are in the room with you?
Are they screwing around?
What are they saying?
Tell him that the pizza is here.
They said the pizza's here.
And that we only have five pies
and three six-packs of cola.
- But we ordered 15 pizzas.
- Are they screwing around?
- Look, they only got five pizzas,
and they messed up on the root beer.
They only got cola.
- Listen, I got a lot of hungry people here,
and that's not gonna be enough food.
- Hey, listen, George, you know what it's like
to order pizza on a Friday afternoon.
The rest will be along here shortly,
you know, and if they're not, hey, they're free.
- It better be.
Now listen, I'm gonna send some of my people down to get it,
and you better not screw with them.
- I wouldn't do that.
Okay, now listen.
You know, the thing is that since all the food is not here,
and I know that you don't want anybody to go hungry,
you know what I was thinking?
Why don't we send some of the hostages out,
that way you'll have enough food for everybody.
I know you don't want anybody to go hungry.
- Forget it, no way!
- Tell him you want the pizzas first.
I can hear the phone.
- I want the rest of the pizzas,
then we can talk about the other stuff later.
Oh, by the way, if you're thinking about drugging the pizza,
don't bother, I'm not eating any.
- Uh, George, George,
before you hang up, can I ask him if they could call my mom
and tell her I'm okay?
She's probably all freaked out.
- Go ahead, man.
- Hey, Skip, hi, it's Aaron again.
Um, look I was wondering if you could call my mom for me
and tell her I'm okay? - Okay, now the thing is
we've contacted her,
she already knows. - Her name's Peggy Sullivan,
she's listed.
Hold on, I'll ask.
Uh, George,
they wanna know if it'd be all right with you, um,
if we got some pens and paper,
and everyone wrote their name and phone number down,
so they can contact all our parents
and tell them we're all all right.
Yeah, they're coming, they're alone.
Get ready.
Come on, come on.
Quick. - How you guys doing up there?
Is everybody okay?
- Here's the list of names.
Which one of you guys is Skip? - Let's make it quick,
I don't want him to get suspicious.
- Now look, inside the lid of this cooler is a video camera.
- What, oh, look at that.
How'd he get that in there? - Pay attention.
- Now look guys, all you fellas have to do
is keep the lid up,
and just point it in George's general direction.
Then forget about it.
- Don't make it a big deal. You understand?
- 62 kids in there. - Okay, it's ready.
You guys are doing a fine job up there.
I just want you to know how much everyone down here
appreciates it.
Here you go, good luck.
Come on, get going.
- Matt. - What?
Your daughter's in there.
- No, no she's not.
That's not right.
She's not here.
She's skiing.
I said it was okay.
- Trav?
Travis?
Travis.
Oh.
Fuck, bro, why'd he have to do that?
Trav.
Oh. Why did he have to go and do that?
What's taking so long down there?
Hurry up!
Frankie.
Frankie, we gotta go.
I'm gonna shoot somebody
if you don't get up here now.
Damn, man.
Quit screwing around and get up here.
It's taking too long.
- Frankie, he's gonna freak out.
- This thing really works. - Great picture.
- There he is. - Bingo.
- I don't see her.
I don't see her, if she's up there,
then why don't I see her?
- Because she's probably in the back
being quiet like a smart girl.
Oh, don't close it.
I don't know what's wrong with this stupid thing.
- What is it, what is it? - Wanna see?
Hey, we got the radio, we can try some tunes.
So, try the radio? - Yeah, put 'em on.
- Oh, thank you kid.
This is really helpful. - This is bull, man.
12 gauge?
And what is that, .357? - The rest of that pizza
better get here.
They're screwing with us.
- I don't want any,
anyhow, so- - Why?
It's not drugged, they know I'm not eating any.
- Well, it's not that, it's just,
I'm a vegetarian. We only got pepperoni.
- Well, why didn't you say something?
- Look, I don't wanna go along with the cops or anything,
but we don't have enough food for everyone.
Maybe we should let a few people go.
- Well, how many, I mean,
what 10, 15? - 15 sounds pretty good.
- Fine, pick 'em.
- Well, I mean, I really think it would be better
if you picked them. - Look.
You either pick them right now, or you can forget it.
Look, just take the bad ones.
And please, make her one.
You need to get out of here, you need to go.
Lot of people.
Frankie.
Come on.
Please go, I'll be the only one, I'll go.
- Come on, it's time to go.
Frankie. Come on.
You gotta get outta here, okay?
We outta here.
- Yeah, you.
- What about me? - Me.
- Hi. Did you wanna go?
- You can let someone else go.
- Right here, come on. - I'll go.
- Eric, can you let us go, man?
- My name's Aaron. - Yeah, right, Aaron.
Look, I'll give you my disc player, man.
You're so dead.
If we ever get outta this place, your ass is mine,
you understand that?
- Huh, huh, what?
Come on, come on, let's go.
Let's go, come on.
Oh, please.
Go. Go, go, come through.
Go.
- Go on. Go on.
Thank you.
40 minutes of nonstop music
on Hot 97, with the Lakers accelerating.
- Hey. - Hi.
So, why didn't you go?
- Why didn't you go?
You could have picked yourself, you know.
- I guess I didn't really think about it.
- Yeah, right.
- I guess I just kinda wanna see how it's gonna turn out.
It's messed up, huh? - We interrupt this broadcast
for a special report- - Shut up!
With some new information
on the growing crisis at Johnson High School.
- Oh my god.
As many as six students are dead,
and nearly 20 others are wounded
in what may be the worst mass killing in state history.
That is the latest- - They said no one died!
They said no one died.
- Somebody changed the channel.
The FBI are on the scene
where apparently 200 students are still being held hostage.
- Sam, dear? - The gunman is believed to be
Jason Copeland.
- Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?
All you're gonna do is get her killed.
- Well then, do something!
Do something! - Hey, hey.
If the phone starts him now, he could pull the trigger.
Hello? - Hey Skip,
I got a serious problem here.
I don't know what to do.
I need your help. You better talk to him.
Come on, George, don't.
George, please don't.
Okay, don't do this.
Don't do this.
Hi George.
- Cut the crap.
You know who I am.
Okay, that's true.
I just wanted you to be comfortable enough to tell me your,
your name yourself.
So, what is your real name?
- Jason.
- Okay.
Hi Jason, how are you?
- Not good.
You lied to me.
You told me nobody died.
- And that's the truth.
I don't know where you got the other information from.
- Father.
- Lord in heaven.
- The radio, that's where. - Thy kingdom come.
They said a lot of people died.
- Okay, what you have to understand, Jason,
is that media loves to sensationalize everything.
They make everything bigger. That's their job.
The truth is
nobody has died.
- Liar.
- My heaven.
- I am not, Jason. I am not lying to you.
I want you to listen very, very carefully, okay son?
What if you did kill all those people?
You would not, look,
you would not be in this school anymore.
You would be in the morgue.
'Cause no matter what you say,
we could be in that room, just like that,
as fast as we want.
But I really believe that at this moment,
that just as necessary,
I really believe that we can work this out.
- How?
How?
That's what we're gonna do together.
Okay.
- Let's get Matt a cup of coffee. Decaf.
Bill, I want you to contact the radio stations,
and you make sure that nobody broadcasts
anymore injury reports.
- Come on, stop crying.
I wasn't really gonna shoot you.
Look, I lost my temper.
You wanna go to the bathroom?
Go ahead, it's all right.
Why don't you see if anybody else wants to go.
And then, you be in charge.
Go. I said, go.
Yes. Listen, Skip, hold on a minute.
Skip? You know, listen to me.
I'm not coming out until we talk
about what's gonna happen to me.
I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life in a jail.
- Tell him what he wants to hear.
- You know what I was thinking, Jason,
there's a very good possibility
that there might not be any jail time whatsoever.
- You guys, I'm gonna send you to the bathroom, okay.
But don't come back.
- Look, look, come on.
I know I'm not gonna get slapped on the wrist for this,
but if you stick me in a fricking cell,
don't you think I'm gonna go crazier than I already am?
- All right, well then, let me ask you this question:
what do you think an appropriate punishment would be
for Jason Copeland?
- They're back. - It's just all a mistake,
you know?
I mean...
- Pick Frankie. - Okay.
Four non-stop hits on Hot 97.
- Hey, Frankie.
Frankie, you've been up here a long time.
Why don't you go down to the bathroom and wash up a little.
Okay?
Come on, let's go.
Come on.
Frankie, don't come back.
We'll be down soon.
- What, Sam, you're not going to pick us?
Jealous?
- Excuse me? - You heard me.
- Drop it, Kathy. - No, no.
It's just that I don't expect to find my best friend or my-
- Hey, hey, are you guys demented?
You know what, just go, both of you.
Just get out of here.
- You know how some people were born winners,
and some losers?
I do.
But let me tell you something.
You're not alone in this feeling of not belonging.
I totally understand that.
I deal with it every day.
Hey, Jason?
Um, you know what, I have to take a break here.
All the coffee is starting to get to me.
I gotta go to the men's room.
I'm gonna call you right back.
Is that all right?
- Okay.
- All right, thanks buddy.
Hey ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
You're getting ready to take him out, aren't you?
- Sniper's in place, we've got the shot.
- Yeah, but that's not necessary.
The kids are leaving the room in droves.
He's ready to give up.
What happens if the sniper misses?
- Won't happen.
- Can you guarantee that? - Can you guarantee
he won't short circuit again?
- Look, you've got a shooter in place.
If he goes south, you can pop him just like that.
I'm this close, Sheriff.
I'm asking you, please, let me finish my job.
Red light.
Repeat, red light.
Red light.
- You better be right, because if we did it my way,
we'd be sending in the clean up crews right now.
Now, I've seen a lot of judges show compassion,
especially after a guy like me stands up and says, look,
he really had a tough time.
You know, he just kind of lost it there for a bit.
Judges really consider that.
- Look, how much time do you think I'm gonna get?
- All right, well, that's a very good question.
I can only guess at that.
I would say that you would get, um,
approximately, probably under five years.
And you know that most of that could counseling time.
- Well, that's what I need, man.
I need more counseling than jail time.
- That's right, I agree with you.
And I hope that you are not picturing those big, you know,
stone fortresses.
This is kind of like a detention home, you know,
and they even have programs
where you can go out during the day,
and go to school. - Skip, Skip, listen.
I can't be stuck in with gang members.
If you want me to, I will use my contacts for you.
- You mean that?
All right, how do I know you're gonna keep your word, huh?
Have I ever lied to you before?
- Will they put it in writing?
- Listen, I want everything I agree to,
you to put in writing, and then I'll come out.
- Okay, we have no problem with a written agreement.
But before I can send that up to you, Jason,
I'm gonna need a good faith release of hostages.
All right, I'll send down five.
And then when the contract comes up, if I like it,
I'll let the rest go.
- Well, I don't think five is gonna do it.
We were thinking more in terms of 10.
- Seven. - How 'bout 15?
- 10.
How 'bout this: five guys, 10 girls.
It'll look great in the press, you get rid of all the girls,
and it's a smart move on your part.
- All right. - Okay?
All right, you know what I was thinking?
Look, you've got 45 kids up there.
Why don't you just send down an even half, all right.
Keep 20, send the rest.
- Okay. - Great, great, all right,
then I'll tell you what. - You pick kids.
- I'll start drawing up the contract,
and I will send it up
as soon as we start seeing the kids come out.
And I'm gonna call you right back, okay?
- Okay. - Okay.
What?
You're terrific.
What?
- Well, you missed your calling.
All that wheeling and dealing,
you should have been a used car salesman.
What, what's so funny? - I was a used car salesman.
- Get outta here! - That was my job before this.
It's perfect.
They're letting them out.
- Samantha.
Where's Samantha, Kathy? - She's still in there.
Her and Aaron were the ones that helped us get out.
- Kathy? - Daddy?
- You know, you know my son, don't you?
You remember him?
You remember Travis, have you seen him?
Have you seen him today?
He left in a gray sweatshirt this morning that had a hood.
Did you see my son, please?
Please? Don't you know who he is?
Do you know who he is?
- How's it look? Huh?
What do you think?
- One to five years.
That's sounds pretty good.
- No, no, no, no, as soon as I walk through the door,
they're gonna rip it up, man.
And then it's gonna be my word against theirs, right?
- Well, how about if you have all of us
sign it as witnesses,
and I can go downstairs and make a bunch of copies.
They can't possibly rip them all up.
- That'll work, that'll work.
No, no, no.
Hey, you, come here.
Let her do it.
Here.
Get the kids to sign it, and make a bunch of copies.
- Does he believe this?
Frankie?
Oh my god.
- We'll be right out.
Yeah, I know.
I'm gonna ask for the credit cards,
and a car.
- Here you go, bro.
- Frankie, where's Samantha?
- Chill man, I sent her home.
- I thought you left already.
- You don't think I'm just gonna let him walk away
after what he did to Travis, do you?
What, I'm just gonna hurt him.
- Wait a minute, wait a minute.
There's nothing in here about the private cell.
We agreed.
- Yes we did, yes we did.
It's an oversight on my part, Jason.
You know what, it's arranged.
It's all arranged. - Do not do this.
Now, we are almost outta here.
Do not sink to his level.
Talk to the police, we'll need them.
Forget him. - Get off.
- Jason, Jason, why don't you kind of stand up
and stretch your legs, you know, get the blood going.
- Hey, what are you doing?
- Frankie! - Frankie!
- Jason?
- You're gonna try to kill me, Frankie?
What did I ever do to you?
- What you done to me?
Why don't you ask Travis what you did to him!
Why don't you talk to Travis!
- Don't listen to him Jason. - Talk to Travis.
- He doesn't know what he's talking about.
Please, he's a troublemaker.
He always has been, I swear to God.
We just gotta get him outta here, okay.
Frankie.
Frankie!
You listen to me.
Now, he will get what he deserves.
I promise. I promise.
- I guess it's too good for him.
- Bye, let's go. - Okay, bye.
- Bye Jason. - Bye Aaron.
See you guys. Bye now.
- Good luck, man. - Bye Jason.
See you tomorrow.
- Hey, hey.
Can you stick around for a minute?
Thanks for all your help.
Good luck.
- It's all right.
Skip?
- Jason, you have done just a great job.
Let's not have any slip ups now, okay?
Now, first thing I want you to do,
take all of your guns and just put them in the corner.
- All right.
- All right, make sure that you have absolutely no weapons.
And then I want you to call me one more time.
- Okay. - Are you ready?
- Frankie. Frankie.
Where's Travis, baby?
Where's Travis?
He's coming out, right?
- Mrs. McGill?
- He's coming out, right?
- Mrs. McGill? - He's coming out, right?
Can you come with us?
- He's coming out.
Travis, my...
He's coming out.
- Mrs. McGill,
why don't you- - Don't!
Don't you Mrs. McGill me.
And don't you sugarcoat nothing.
Is my son dead?
- Yes. - Is my son dead?
- I'm so sorry. - Is my son dead?
No! No!
You're lying! You're lying!
You're lying!
My son! My son, oh God.
Oh god. Oh god please.
- All right.
Um, I'm ready to come down now.
Skip?
I was hoping that maybe that you could come up here,
and maybe you could walk down with me?
- I would really like that, son, I really would.
But I can't.
But I promise you this.
I will be the first face you see when you step outside.
- Okay.
- Now look, I feel really silly about this,
but there's one more precaution.
Could you take off your shirt?
That way everyone will see that there is
absolutely no concealed weapon.
- Look, man, I don't want any cameras on me.
I don't want people taking my picture with my shirt off.
- I just don't want any mistakes.
- Okay.
All right. I'm ready to come down now.
- I promised him.
I promised him. - Just wait.
- I said I was gonna-
- You've done everything you can do.
He's turning around.
He's going back up the stairs.
Here he comes again.
We can't see what's behind his back. Where's the weapon?
- Don't move, move!
Look out, he's got something in his hand!
Put the cuffs on him, now!
Skip, Skip!
Get him up, come on.
Get the doors.
Let's go, come on. Open the door.
- We're bringing him out.
- Come on, Sheriff, let's go.
- Come on, let's go!
Get out of the way!
- I didn't know!
I didn't know they were gonna-
It's Skip, it's Skip!
Excuse me! Listen, I am so sorry.
Get him in the car. Let's go, move!
Now that Jason's captured
and is going into custody-
- You did some job, huh?
- Skip? - Yep.
- You did the job. - Oh no.
We were some team, huh?
- Yeah.
I heard he killed Mr. Kroft. - Yeah.
- He was the only teacher that ever bothered to talk to me.
Aaron?
- Hi, Mom. - You're okay.
- Your son is one solid citizen.
- Well, I should have known
if anyone could talk his way out of trouble, it'd be Aaron.
- I'll see ya, huh?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
Yeah.