On Aug. 23, 1973 at 10:15 a.m., 32-year-old Olsson stormed into the Kreditbanken on the central Norrmalmstorg square, pulled out a sub-machine gun, and started firing into the air, while screaming "The party's starting! Everyone, face down!" He took four employees hostage, demanding 3 million Swedish crowns ($730,000) and the liberation of his friend from prison.
That criminal act, which would become a long, drawn-out standoff between Olsson and the police, marked the beginning of what American psychiatrist Franck Ochberg would define as “Stockholm syndrome,” the irrational attachment between victims and kidnappers that can develop during the course of a sequester.
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