The suspect responsible for holding hostages inside a bank in downtown Bakersfield, California, was shot and killed by the FBI on Wednesday.
The suspect was killed in an officer-involved shooting involving FBI personnel, according to the Bakersfield Police Department.
Recommended Stories
The standoff began Tuesday afternoon when a man barricaded himself inside a Chase Bank location in Bakersfield, reportedly with a bomb strapped to his body. It is unclear how many hostages were held inside the bank, but two were released late Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, police said all of the hostages inside the bank had been freed, and none were harmed during the 12-hour standoff.
Officers first responded to reports of a bomb threat, and it was later determined that the suspect had barricaded himself inside the building. Some of the personnel inside the bank were able to flee, but an unspecified number of hostages were trapped inside with the suspect.
Multiple outlets reported that a police broadcast noted the suspect appeared to have a “makeshift detonator” in his hand and “wires coming out of his shirt,” leading police to believe he was armed with an explosive device.
The FBI’s Sacramento field office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’s San Francisco field office sent resources to assist local law enforcement with the situation.
The Bakersfield Police Department had deployed its crisis negotiation team to the scene, and the negotiators were in contact with the suspect by phone.
A large area of downtown Bakersfield was shut down as the standoff unfolded. Several municipal buildings were placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure, according to the city.
Officials have not released the suspect’s identity nor a possible motive that led him to hold several people hostage inside the Chase Bank branch.
