Dantzler hostage: 'choose to do good'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - One of three hostages taken by Rodrick Dantzler after his murderous rampage says she is not a hero and that Dantzler is not a villain.

"Most everyone is taught, from a very young age, that stories need a hero and a villain and people want to think the same about the night of July 7," Meg Holmes wrote in a blog she emailed to 24 Hour News 8. "I believe Rodrick Dantzler was not the villain that night nor was I the hero; he chose to do bad things and I chose to do good things."

Meg Holmes, of Grand Haven, happened to be visiting two friends, Steve Helderman and Joyce Bean, whose home on Rickman Avenue NE happened to be in Dantzler's path of escape -- after he'd killed seven people, after he'd shot-it-out with police, and after a chase the ended when he crashed a friend's SUV along the highway.

Dantzler, armed with a stolen 9 mm Glock, kicked in the back door, fired shots inside the home -- and , for a time, believed he was holding two hostages.

That's becauses Holmes was hiding under the bed.

After releasing Joyce Bean and getting Gatorade and cigarettes from police negotiators, Dantlzer thought he was down to one hostage. But, police say, Dantzler grew frustrated with Helderman, who is hard of hearing.

Of that, Meg Holmes wrote: "I waited until there was no choice but to reveal myself and try to change the course of that horrific night."

She climbed from beneath the bed and tried to calm down Dantzler, police say, possibly saving the other hostage.

A short time later, Dantzler shot and killed himself.

"Everyone, including the media, wants to hear my side of the story," she wrote in her blog. "This is not what this is. That story has been written and may be shared sometime, but this is not that day. This is about something else. This is about choices. The choices that we make affect everyone around us; like ripples in life’s pond.

"Sometimes life is messy and complicated and it doesn’t play by the rules and people can get very, very hurt. I don’t believe in evil people. I believe everyone has it in him or herself to make evil choices or good choices and it is those choices which define us all."

She ended her blog with these words: "Please, move forward; live your lives and consciously choose to do good things."

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The complete text follows:

"Three weeks ago, on 7/7, I spent hours hiding under a bed while a man with a gun, RD, held two of my friends hostage. He released one of them and hours passed. I waited until there was no choice but to reveal myself and try to change the course of that horrific night.

"Everyone, including the media, wants to hear my side of the story… That is not what this is. That story has been written and may be shared sometime, but this is not that day. This is about something else. This is about choices. The choices that we make affect everyone around us; like ripples in life’s pond.

"Sometimes life is messy and complicated and it doesn’t play by the rules and people can get very, very hurt. I don’t believe in evil people. I believe everyone has it in him or herself to make evil choices or good choices and it is those choices which define us all.

"The world likes things to be simple, but they are not. Most everyone is taught, from a very young age, that stories need a hero and a villain and people want to think the same about the night of 7/7. I believe RD was not the villain that night nor was I the hero; he chose to do bad things and I chose to do good things.

"I hope the one lesson people learn from this terrible tragedy is that we all need to choose to be kinder and a bit more compassionate even when it seems most difficult– especially when it seems most difficult– because those may be the most significant moments of all.

"Please, move forward; live your lives and consciously choose to do good things."