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Hans Gruber

Hans Gruber (12 September 1948-25 December 1988) was a West German left-wing terrorist and criminal mastermind. Formerly a member of the Volksfrei terror group, he became a freelance criminal after being expelled from the organization and was killed during the Nakatomi Plaza heist of 1988.

Biography[]

Hans Gruber 2

Gruber as a terrorist

Hans Gruber was born in Allied-occupied Germany in 1948, the brother of Simon Gruber. He and his brother were separated by the Iron Curtain during the Soviet and Allied partition of Germany, and he was raised in West Germany. Gruber received a classical education and became involved with the Volksfrei communist revolutionary group. However, he was expelled in 1986 for his over-violent and extreme methods of getting things done, as well as for allegations that his robberies were meant for personal gain and not to finance the group.

Hans Gruber death

Gruber's death

In 1988, Gruber gathered a multinational cadre of terrorists for a robbery of the Nakatomi Plaza skyscraper in Los Angeles, California under the cover of a hostage crisis. He and his 13-man team stormed a Christmas party and killed Nakatomi Corporation CEO Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi when he was unable to hand over the codes to a vault containing $640 million in negotiable Bearer Bonds. Unfortunately for the terrorists, off-duty NYPD policeman John McClane took out the terrorists one-by-one and attracted the attention of the LAPD and FBI. Over the radio, Gruber demanded the release of seven members of the New Provo Front, five leaders of the Liberte de Quebec, and nine members of the Asian Dawn movement. However, the FBI took control of the situation to the police and attempted to storm the building, only for the terrorists to use rocket launchers to destroy an FBI SWAT APC and a booby trap to destroy an FBI helicopter on the roof. Eventually, McClane was able to kill the rest of the terror cell and confront Gruber on the 30th floor of the building. MCClane shot Gruber in the shoulder, causing him to fall towards a broken window, and, though he grabbed onto Holly Gennaro-McClane's watch, McClane unclasped the butter hook, leading Gruber to fall to his death. His brother Simon would later attempt to avenge his brother's death during a heist of his own in New York City.

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