“He” is Andrew. Andrew served alongside our ministry contacts in Nicaragua. He worked with about 20 kids in Jinotepe as their English and Bible teacher. We were told he lived at the New Life Center on the same compound as my team, but we’d only just met him a couple days prior to this particular night – 2 weeks or so after arriving.
Andrew is bipolar. I believe he is in a constant battle for his mind. I wish I’d been able to know him prior to November 16, but what I do know of Andrew I am obligated to make very clear to you so that you know his heart above all else: that he loves the Lord and loves teaching the kids – and they all love him back. Even some of the really unruly kids showed complete respect for him in the way they spoke about him with me later. He served the kids in Jinotepe and loved them deeply, and I am grateful for his service to them.
It was a Tuesday and we were currently at our ministry contact’s hotel. It’s a beautiful building, huge, and looks pretty old – but in a good way. Picture this if you can:
The front door of the hotel opens up to a short hallway that leads to the lobby. There’s a room that branches off from the lobby; a dining room to the left, which connects to another room with a big wooden table, and that room connects to a room with a piano. The piano room has windows but no main exit; it’s kind of a dead end. These are minor details but it’ll help you follow what happened.
We were staying at the hotel that night because Andrew had been in a pretty bad “episode”, especially that day. These low episodes would come and go, but our contacts knew he was acting unpredictably and wanted to make sure my team was safe. That morning we’d woken up to him yelling and screaming and pounding on the walls, so we were perfectly fine with staying that Tuesday night at the hotel.
It was around 8:50pm that Tuesday night. Just to clarify where everyone was before the madness began:
Brandi and Greg were out in the lobby on their laptops.
Keryn was in the piano room.
Nikki and Cara were in the dining area; closest to the lobby.
I was in the formal dining room with a clear shot of the lobby.
I was trying to figure out some worship songs for the next morning when the banging started. It was loud. It was Andrew; he was at the front door of the hotel, and while I knew the door was locked, it was still a little unnerving. Nikki got up to see who it was; she was trusting the lock on the door to hold – we all were – and as she recognized that it was him, he broke the lock and came in.
Nikki saw that he was carrying a gun.
Logically, that’s the dumbest thing I could’ve thought at that time. It was a glass door, flimsy, and I’m not exactly built like a wrestler – there was no way I, 120lb 5ft-something, could hold back a grown man with a gun.
One of the girls quickly helped me realize this and I moved away from the door. I took off my shoes; every step I took sounded incredibly loud to me and it just made sense that I take them off. It was an action I didn’t realize I did until later.
