Wikipedia
A Mexican standoff is a confrontation between two or more parties in which no participant can proceed or retreat without being exposed to danger. As a result, all participants need to maintain the strategic tension, which remains unresolved until some outside event makes it possible to resolve it.
The Mexican standoff is a recurring trope in cinema, where several armed characters hold each other at gunpoint.
Usage examples of "mexican standoff".
A real Mexican standoff, until the fed grabbed the money bag and a windstorm played hell with all that cash.
Elec- on the head, I think, but it looks like the nail was harder tronic Mexican standoff.
For the next fifteen or twenty seconds, it was like a Mexican standoff.
I'll allow it's a Mexican standoff now, but sooner or later somebody has to cave In.
It was a Mexican standoff, and since those in the camp didn't and couldn't know just how badly hurt Serkosh was or even who or what he was, they were very much at a disadvantage.