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A antheral was changeable and killed by the FBI aboriginal Wednesday aft holding 10 schoolhouse employees hostage, including immoderate who were tied up, and informing helium had strapped explosives to himself and immoderate of the hostages wrong a Southern California bureau building, constabulary said.
Authorities stormed the gathering successful downtown Bakersfield and changeable the suspect, ending a much than 15-hour standoff, constabulary said.
The hostages — employees of the the Kern County Superintendent of Schools — were recovered unharmed wrong the gathering that besides houses a bank, said Bakersfield Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Blakemore.
“Throughout the nighttime their families questioned whether oregon not they would beryllium seen again but we are precise grateful for the outcome,” Blakemore said during a quality league Wednesday.
Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, was changeable and killed astir 4:20 a.m., according to Sid Patel, peculiar cause successful complaint successful the FBI’s Sacramento office. Authorities said helium was an Army seasoned who was dishonorably discharged, had a past of occupation with instrumentality enforcement and was a registered enactment offender.
Searles-Harris told constabulary helium had a weaponry aft barricading himself wrong the 2nd level of the gathering and taking the hostages, Blakemore said.
"He had concerns related to however his erstwhile lawsuit had been handled and what the aftermath of that was, the sentencing and those kinds of things,” Blakemore said.
Authorities were investigating the devices that Searles-Harris said were bombs, but Patel said they bash not look to beryllium a concern.
FBI officials said Searles-Harris served astir a twelvemonth successful the Army earlier being dishonorably discharged for going AWOL.
California Department of Justice and tribunal records amusement Searles-Harris was connected the state’s enactment offender registry owed to convictions successful 2014 for intersexual crimes related to a kid nether 14 years of age. Those records amusement helium was released from situation successful 2018.
While authorities declined to sermon a motive successful the standoff, Blakemore said immoderate of the demands Searles-Harris made progressive asking for materials from his erstwhile case.
Court records successful Kern County, California, amusement Searles-Harris filed a petition to forestall home violence, and was progressive successful divorcement proceedings that enactment a young kid arsenic good arsenic a combat for guardianship successful which helium was listed arsenic an objector.
The standoff began aboriginal Tuesday afternoon, erstwhile officers responded to a telephone of a weaponry menace astatine the Chase Bank building, a four-story bureau gathering with dark-tinted solid windows, successful the metropolis of astir 380,000 residents astir 100 miles (160 kms) northeast of Los Angeles.
The constabulary department’s situation dialog squad talked with Searles-Harris by telephone and helium released 2 hostages Tuesday night.
Buildings nearby, including City Hall and the constabulary office that are conscionable a artifact away, were evacuated and immoderate roads were closed during the hostage situation. Officers established a perimeter astir the country and warned the nationalist to enactment away.
Jacob Davidson, a livestreamer known arsenic Dad’s Gone Live, was astatine his family’s tattoo store a artifact from the slope gathering erstwhile helium started receiving calls astir the weaponry threat.
“I went into the bank’s parking store and watched the cops participate the backmost of the bank. This is the biggest constabulary beingness I’ve ever seen successful this town,” Davidson said.
His livestream captured done a model successful the gathering a pistillate rocking backmost and distant Tuesday nighttime earlier crouching beneath the window. Later, 2 hands could beryllium seen waving.
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Associated Press reporters Rebecca Boone successful Boise, Idaho; Hallie Golden successful Seattle; Kathy McCormack successful Concord, New Hampshire; and Claudia Lauer successful Philadelphia contributed.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
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