The FBI on Wednesday said the suspect who was shot and killed by officers after holding several people hostage inside a downtown Bakersfield, California, building was “no stranger” to law enforcement and sought county school officials on the building’s second floor.
During a press conference following the officer-involved shooting that ended an hourslong standoff, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Sacramento field office Sid Patel identified 41-year-old Anthony Scott Searles-Harris as the suspect.
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Patel said Searles-Harris had a criminal record and was “no stranger to law enforcement” and a registered sex offender. Searles-Harris served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2007 but was dishonorably discharged for being absent without leave.
The hostage situation had initially been reported at a JPMorgan Chase bank branch in Bakersfield, but Patel clarified that the scene was the office of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. Chase Bank leases a first-floor space from the superintendent’s office, which is located on the second floor.
Patel said the 10 hostages were all employees of the superintendent’s office and that five of them were tied up during the roughly 12-hour standoff with police. None of the hostages was said to have any injuries.
The incident ignited Tuesday afternoon when Searles-Harris barricaded himself inside the building, reportedly with a bomb strapped to his body. Officials said officers arrived to find a man who had barricaded himself in the building with “several community members,” but some people were able to escape.
Police responded to reports of a “bomb” threat Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by SWAT teams, hostage negotiators, and a bomb squad. The FBI’s Sacramento field office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’s San Francisco field office also sent resources to assist local law enforcement with the situation.
Two hostages were released Tuesday evening after Searles-Harris had reportedly negotiated with police. Later attempts to free more hostages did not prove successful, prompting police to breach the building.
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A large area of downtown Bakersfield was closed during the incident, and police said Wednesday that residents should expect road closures and delays in the area until Wednesday afternoon.
A possible motive as to why Searles-Harris held 10 school employees hostage for 12 hours was not identified.
