A man who held several people hostage inside a downtown Bakersfield office building for nearly 12 hours was shot and killed by FBI agents early Wednesday, according to local authorities.
The hostages were rescued unharmed from the building, which houses a Chase Bank branch and offices belonging to a local school district, the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement. Authorities confirmed that the suspect died during what was described as “an officer-involved shooting” involving FBI personnel.
The incident began Tuesday afternoon after police received reports of a bomb threat at the four-story Chase Bank building. Investigators said the suspect barricaded himself inside the structure, which features dark-tinted glass windows, while holding multiple individuals against their will.
Throughout the standoff, members of the department’s crisis negotiation team maintained telephone contact with the suspect. Their efforts led to the release of two hostages on Tuesday night, police said.
As the situation unfolded, authorities evacuated nearby buildings, including City Hall and police headquarters, both located about a block from the scene. Several roads in the surrounding area were also temporarily closed. Bakersfield, home to roughly 380,000 residents, serves as the county seat of Kern County and is situated about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase confirmed that the bank branch occupies the ground floor of the building. Police established a security perimeter around the area and urged residents to avoid the vicinity while emergency operations were underway.
“We have every single resource at our disposal out here to bring this to the safest resolution possible,” Bakersfield police Sgt. Eric Celedon said Tuesday.
Local livestreamer Jacob Davidson, known online as Dad’s Gone Live, said he was at his family’s tattoo shop a block away when reports of the bomb threat began circulating.
“I went into the bank’s parking garage and watched the cops enter the back of the bank. This is the biggest police presence I’ve ever seen in this town,” Davidson said.
Davidson’s livestream captured scenes from inside the building through a window on Tuesday night. The footage showed a woman rocking back and forth before crouching beneath the window. At a later point, two hands were seen waving from inside.
The standoff concluded early Wednesday when law enforcement officers fatally shot the suspect, bringing the tense hostage situation to an end.
