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Solved case · 1990
The short answer
On September 28, 1990, a gunman held 33 people hostage for seven hours at Henry's Pub in Berkeley, California, sexually degrading some captives; a student and the gunman were killed when police stormed the bar.
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Suggest coverage for Henry's Pub hostage incidentThe case file
In the early morning of September 28, 1990, Mehrdad Dashti, a 29-year-old Iranian-born man with schizophrenia, entered Henry's Pub, located inside the Hotel Durant in Berkeley, California, near the University of California, Berkeley campus. At about 12:30 a.m., he brought three guns and 445 rounds of ammunition into the bar and took 33 people hostage, holding them for approximately seven hours.
During the standoff, Dashti made a series of irrational and delusional demands to police negotiators. These included asking for trillions of dollars from the federal government in exchange for telepathy services, demanding to be given the state of Alaska, and insisting that then-San Francisco Police Chief Frank Jordan and former CIA director Richard Helms publicly make statements, appear on television, and drop their pants. Dashti also ordered some blonde female students to undress below the waist and directed sexually demeaning language at them. He told hostages to "drink up," reportedly saying that if they were all going to die, they might as well be having fun.
By approximately 7 a.m., police negotiators had been unable to persuade Dashti to disarm, and officers decided to enter the premises. During the ensuing confrontation, a student, John N. Sheehy, age 22, was shot in the chest at close range and killed. Six other students and one police officer were wounded by gunfire. Dashti fired two shots at the kitchen door before police shot and killed him.
2 dated entries · 1990
Mehrdad Dashti takes 33 hostages at Henry's Pub in the Hotel Durant, Berkeley, California, at approximately 12:30 a.m., holding them for about seven hours.
Police enter the premises around 7 a.m. after failed negotiations; hostage John N. Sheehy is shot and killed, six other students and one police officer are wounded, and Dashti is shot and killed by police.
2 named in this file
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3 cited
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Official / agencycia.govAccessed Jul 7, 2026
PressThe New York TimesAccessed Jul 7, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 7, 2026
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