FBI Kills Hostage-Taker After 12-Hour Standoff in Bakersfield

A man who held hostages inside a downtown Bakersfield office building for approximately 12 hours was shot and killed by FBI agents early Wednesday morning, police said. All hostages were found unharmed.

The standoff began Tuesday afternoon when officers responded to a bomb threat at the Chase Bank building, a four-story office building with dark-tinted windows that also houses a school district office. Police discovered the man had barricaded himself inside with several people.

The Bakersfield Police Department's crisis negotiation team spoke with the suspect by telephone, and two hostages were released Tuesday night. The remaining hostages were found safe after the shooting.

Nearby buildings, including City Hall and police headquarters just a block away, were evacuated. Some roads were temporarily closed during the incident.

Officers established a perimeter and warned the public to stay away.

"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.

Jacob Davidson, a livestreamer known as Dad's Gone Live, was at his family's tattoo shop a block away when he started receiving calls about the bomb threat. "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. His livestream captured a woman rocking back and forth inside the building before crouching below a window; later, two hands could be seen waving.

Bakersfield, a city of about 380,000 residents, is the seat of largely rural Kern County and is about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase confirmed the bank branch is on the ground floor and was empty during the incident.

Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh said she was closely monitoring the situation. "The best way the public can help at this time is by avoiding the area and allowing law enforcement officers, negotiators, and other trained professionals the space and opportunity to safely carry out their duties," she said in a statement.