Los Angeles, California - A US Army veteran who took 10 people hostage in a California bank building, tying some up and strapping explosives to them, was dead Wednesday after FBI specialists moved in.
A 15-hour stand-off began when Anthony Searles-Harris (41) walked into a Chase Bank building in Bakersfield around lunchtime on Tuesday with what he said were bombs.
Police said Searles-Harris – a convicted sex offender with a history of violence – barricaded himself and 10 hostages on the second floor of the building, which houses the Kern County School Superintendents' office.
Bakersfield Police Department Assistant Chief Jeremy Blakemore said negotiators began talking to the hostage-taker, who said he was wearing a bomb.
"He also told law enforcement that additional explosives had been attached to some of the hostages, which we confirmed based on our own observations," Blakemore told reporters.
The local FBI field office, which was working with the police, flew in their elite hostage rescue team (HRT) from the agency's Quantico headquarters.
Two of the hostages were released in the course of the afternoon and the evening, including at least one person who was suffering a life-threatening health crisis, but negotiations stalled as night fell.
Special Agent Sid Patel of the FBI said HRT operatives took full control of the situation at 2 AM.
Army veteran said he was wearing a bomb as he took nearly a dozen hostages
"At approximately 4:30 AM this morning, that's when the hostage rescue team neutralized this subject," he told a press conference.
"Let me be clear, he had tied up five of the hostages, but there were 10 hostages in there, and they were all unharmed physically.
"I'm sure there'll be mental scars that they'll be living with, and we'll have our victim specialist to help them."
Neither police nor FBI gave any motive for the episode.