The hostage standoff in Bakersfield came to an end early Wednesday morning with a suspect dead and all hostages free.
Police responded to a building at Chester Ave. and 17th St. around 1 p.m. Tuesday for a reported bomb threat. Officers then learned a man had barricaded himself inside the second floor of the building with multiple hostages.
“The suspect advised he had explosives attached to his person, which our personnel could see as well,” Bakersfield PD Assistant Chief Jeremy Blakemore told reporters at a press conference. He also said there were additional explosives attached to the hostages.
The hostages, according to Blakemore, were employees of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
Several nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution.
During the standoff, one hostage was released just before 4 p.m., and two more were released at 8:24 p.m.
The FBI responded to the area just after 9 p.m. The standoff came to an end at 4:20 a.m. after the suspect, identified as 41-year-old Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, was killed by the FBI.
The 10 hostages were released unharmed and received medical attention at the scene, officers said.
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