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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/hundreds-at-hostage-taker-memorial.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Sam Hengel, 15, shot himself after taking his classmates hostage (AP)" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-hundreds-at-hostage-taker-memorial.jpg" alt="Sam Hengel, 15, shot himself after taking his classmates hostage (AP)"/></a></p>
<p>Hundreds of people attended a memorial to a 15-year-old US schoolboy who held his social studies class hostage before shooting himself last week, setting aside the terrifying stand-off to remember him as a quiet, helpful leader who loved the outdoors.</p>
<p>Sam Hengel held 26 classmates and his teacher at gunpoint for nearly six hours at his school in Marinette, Wisconsin. </p>
<p>His family held the memorial gathering in a school auditorium in Menominee, Michigan, just across the border from Marinette, because they expected so many supporters.</p>
<p>Barb Post of Marinette, Wisconsin, said she didn&#8217;t know Hengel&#8217;s family but attended anyway to show support. She said: &#8220;You care about the people and the family, and you understand it could happen to anybody.&#8221;</p>
<p>Why Hengel took his class hostage remains a mystery. Other students and his teacher have said he was well-liked and had many friends.</p>
<p>The stand-off last Monday at Marinette High School began when Hengel returned to his sixth-hour western civilisation class from a bathroom break. He had two semi-automatic pistols and a backpack jammed with more than 200 rounds of ammunition and a pair of knives.</p>
<p>During the stand-off students talked to him about everything from hunting and fishing to his favourite movies in an attempt to keep him calm. Teacher Valerie Burd acted as a go-between for Hengel and police. Officers stormed the room after Hengel fired three shots about 8 pm, destroying the classroom phone and hitting a computer. Hengel shot himself as officers reached him and died the next morning. </p>
<p>Flurries fell under an overcast sky Sunday afternoon, adding to a feeling of gloom. The line to greet the teenager&#8217;s parents and two younger brothers stretched out of the auditorium and into the lobby, where mourners gazed at collages of photos depicting Hengel as a small child, holding a string of fish and paddling along on a canoe trip with his family. On a table was a message board. Hengel&#8217;s brother, Ben, had written &#8220;I will always miss you, brother&#8221; on it. </p>
<p>Next to the board were pin-on buttons emblazoned with Hengel&#8217;s face and take-home cards listing symptoms that might indicate suicidal thoughts.</p>
<p>The Reverend Nicholas Johannes told the crowd he wondered why Hengel did it as he held the boy&#8217;s hand in the hospital, but said he&#8217;ll never know. Hengel was a good person and God would not judge him on one act, he promised. People&#8217;s lives revolve around work so much they don&#8217;t listen or help each other anymore, he added.</p>
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