Torp hostage crisis

On 28 September 1994, a hostage crisis unfolded at Sandefjord Airport, Torp, in Norway. The incident began when Swedish citizens Resid Koca, originally from Serbia, and Zvonimir Majdek, originally from Croatia, stole 1.5 million kroner from a small post office in Østre Halsen, near Larvik. Their getaway car broke down during the escape, and the pair ended up at the home of an elderly couple in Larvik, where they took a 44-year-old female police officer hostage the night after the robbery.

A negotiator from Sandefjord police station was brought in to communicate with the hostage takers over police radio. Because the communication took place over an open radio channel, the press was able to listen in as events unfolded. The hostage takers were led to believe they would be given an airplane at the nearest airport, Torp, but upon arrival they realized they had been misled.

During an attempt to deliver new batteries for the police radio, the negotiator himself was taken hostage. He was told he would be killed unless the hostage takers' demands were met — a payment of US$10 million and safe passage out of the country within the hour. He was forced to count down to his own execution aloud over the radio, in five-minute intervals starting at 8:30. At 8:58, he reported over the radio that there were two minutes left until he would be shot. Seconds later, the Norwegian police tactical unit Delta launched an assault. All hostages were saved, and Resid Koca was shot and killed instantly by a Delta sniper.

Zvonimir Majdek was later convicted of robbery, kidnapping, and attempted premeditated murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released in 2004.

This remains the only instance in which a Norwegian chief of police has given a direct order to shoot to kill during peacetime.

Press coverage of the crisis was limited at the time because it coincided with the sinking of the MS Estonia. The event was later dramatized in a miniseries titled "Deadline Torp," produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in 2005, which has since been released on DVD.