CRIME Hostage situation with threat of explosives - Bakersfield CA

jward

jward

passin' thru
bnonews.com


Bomb threat and hostage situation reported at bank in Bakersfield, CA​

Carlos Robles



A bomb threat and hostage situation have been reported at a Chase Bank in downtown Bakersfield, California, according to police and preliminary reports.

The incident began at about 1 p.m. Tuesday at a Chase Bank near Chester Avenue and 17th Street, according to Bakersfield Police Sgt. Eric Celedon. Several blocks around the bank in the downtown area have been closed off.

“All the buildings in the surrounding area have been evacuated,” Celedon said at the scene. “This is a very active scene. If you are in the area, please leave, and if you are planning to go to the city of Bakersfield, please avoid downtown.”
Police said they had deployed SWAT officers, the bomb squad, crisis negotiators, drones, K9 units and federal partners. Authorities have not confirmed details about the suspect or how many people are being held inside the building.

“We have every single resource at our disposal out here to bring this to the safest resolution possible,” Celedon said.
Law enforcement officers at the scene have discussed a possible device connected to the suspect, but police have not confirmed that detail.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2061949840607604951
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bnonews.com

Bomb threat and hostage situation reported at bank in Bakersfield, CA

A bomb threat and hostage situation have been reported at a Chase Bank in downtown Bakersfield, California, according to police and preliminary reports. The incident began at about 1 p.m. Tuesday at a Chase Bank near Chester Avenue and 17th Street, according to Bakersfield Police Sgt. Eric...
bnonews.com bnonews.com
 
onetimer

onetimer

Has No Life - Lives on TB
He said his bombs were a bouncing betty, attached to a heart monitor and audio activated, but his main was black powder and nails. The last 1 is believable.

I predict this sex offender will be pink mist if they can get the hostages clear.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Posted for fair use.....
bakersfieldnow.com

Heavy police presence reported at home on Oildale Drive

There is a heavy police presence outside an Oildale home.Police can be seen entering a home in the 500 block of Oildale Drive near Belle Avenue.Bomb squad was a
bakersfieldnow.com bakersfieldnow.com

Heavy police presence reported at home on Oildale Drive​

by BakersfieldNow Staff
Tue, June 2, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Updated Tue, June 2, 2026 at 6:10 PM

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — There is a heavy police presence outside an Oildale home.

Police can be seen entering a home in the 500 block of Oildale Drive near Belle Avenue.

Eyewitness News has reached out to the Bakersfield Police Department for information on the incident.
 
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Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Posted for fair use......
www.yahoo.com

California Bank Hostage Situation: Police Negotiate With Man in Bakersfield

Officers responded to a call of a bomb threat at a bank and found a man had barricaded himself inside with others, police said.
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

Newsweek US

California Bank Hostage Situation: Police Negotiate With Man in Bakersfield​

Khaleda Rahman
Tue, June 2, 2026 at 11:25 PM PDT
2 min read

Police are locked in negotiations with a man holding hostages inside a building that houses a Chase bank branch in the city of Bakersfield, authorities said.

Officers responded to a call of a bomb threat at the bank building located at the corner of Chester Avenue and 17th Street at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and determined a man had barricaded himself inside “with several community members,” the Bakersfield Police Department said.

Newsweek has contacted JPMorgan Chase and Bakersfield Police Department for further comment via email

The man, who has not been identified, had a bomb strapped to his body, Bakersfield Now reported, citing police.

One of the hostages was released on Tuesday afternoon, the outlet reported. Police said at around 9 p.m. that officers had negotiated the release of a second hostage.

The rest are in “good health,” Sergeant Eric Celedon of Bakersfield Police said. “We have every single resource at our disposal out here to bring this to the safest resolution possible.”

No injuries have been reported so far. Police have urged the public to stay out of the area as it remains an active situation.

Bakersfield Police said the department’s crisis negotiation team was in contact with the suspect by telephone.

Officers established a perimeter around the building and nearby businesses, authorities said. Buildings in the vicinity were evacuated, including city hall and the police headquarters, and some roads were temporarily closed.

A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said its branch is on the ground floor of the building. The company is working with authorities.

About a dozen police cars were on scene along with one tactical vehicle and multiple emergency responders. FBI agents were also on the scene.

Officers established a perimeter around the building and nearby businesses, authorities said. Buildings in the vicinity were evacuated, including city hall and the police headquarters, and some roads were temporarily closed.

A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said its branch is on the ground floor of the building. The company is working with authorities.

About a dozen police cars were on scene along with one tactical vehicle and multiple emergency responders. FBI agents were also on the scene.
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Posted for fair use.......
www.kcra.com

FBI fatally shoots man holding hostages at Bakersfield Chase bank, police say

A man holding hostages inside a building in Southern California that houses a bank branch and school district office has been shot and killed by the FBI, police said Wednesday.
www.kcra.com www.kcra.com

FBI fatally shoots man holding hostages at Bakersfield Chase bank, police say​

AP logo

Updated: 8:01 AM PDT Jun 3, 2026

A man holding hostages inside a building in Southern California that houses a bank branch and school district office has been shot and killed by the FBI, police said Wednesday.

Previous coverage in the video player above

The suspect was killed in "an officer-involved shooting involving Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel," the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement.

The standoff in downtown Bakersfield began Tuesday afternoon when officers responded to a call of a bomb threat at the Chase Bank building.

Bakersfield Police said the man barricaded himself inside with several people. Two were released Tuesday after negotiations with authorities.

Nearby buildings, including City Hall and the police headquarters, were evacuated and some roads were temporarily closed during the hostage situation.
 
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Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Some thoughts....

- That was a lot of effort to commit "suicide by cop".

- Bakersfield is far enough away from the LA Metro area, along with it being Election Day, to not get the coverage it would "normally" get. (ETA) Also close enough that the perpetrator could have easily driven to LA to do this action.

- We still haven't gotten the name of the perpetrator nor anything on motive. That says things the longer we don't get that information.....
 
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D

diesel85

Senior Member
Housecarl said:
Some thoughts....

- That was a lot of effort to commit "suicide by cop".

- Bakersfield is far enough away from the LA Metro area, along with it being Election Day, to not get the coverage it would "normally" get. (ETA) Also close enough that the perpetrator could have easily driven to LA to do this action.

- We still haven't gotten the name of the perpetrator nor anything on motive. That says things the longer we don't get that information.....
Click to expand...

Looking at the map, the police station was right behind the bank, across the street.
 
auxman

auxman

Deus vult...

Suspect who took 10 hostages is dead after hourslong bomb threat at California building, authorities say​

A man who took 10 hostages while claiming to have explosives in a California school district’s offices before authorities killed him Wednesday morning was an Army veteran and convicted sex offender, authorities said.

Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, took the hostages on the second floor of the Chase Bank building in downtown Bakersfield some 100 miles north of Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, leading to a roughly 15-hour standoff before he was killed in a shooting involving the FBI, authorities said.

All hostages have been recovered safely, including two who were released on Tuesday during authorities’ negotiations with Searles-Harris, Jeremy Blakemore, Bakersfield assistant police chief, said during a news conference. Though the building’s ground floor houses a bank branch, the hostages were taken on a separate floor that contains the offices of the Kern County school superintendent’s administration, authorities said.

“The suspect advised he had explosives attached to his person, which our personnel could see as well,” Blakemore said. “He also told law enforcement that additional explosives had been attached to some of the hostages, which we confirmed based on our own observations.”

All hostages were reunited with their families Wednesday, Blakemore said. The suspect was killed after an FBI team entered the building Wednesday morning – a move prompted by his “erratic behavior” and concerns about the health of a hostage, said Sid Patel, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Sacramento field office.

“There were a total of 10 members of our community whose lives were changed yesterday unexpectedly,” Blakemore said. “Throughout the night, their families questioned whether or not they would be seen again, but we are very grateful for the outcome and the fact that we’ve been able to protect their lives.”

Police have not confirmed whether the improvised explosive devices would have worked, Patel said.

Searles-Harris had barricaded himself inside the building’s second floor with hostages around 1 p.m. Tuesday, prompting police to shut down the surrounding area and lock down nearby government buildings, authorities said. The rest of the building, including the bank branch, was evacuated.

Searles-Harris, who officials said tied up five of the 10 hostages, had a “criminal history of using weapons to commit violent offenses,” Patel said.

In 2014, Searles-Harris was convicted of two sex offenses involving a child under the age of 14, state records show.

A motive in the hostage incident is under investigation, Blakemore said.

During negotiations, Searles-Harris expressed “some concerns related to how his previous cases, our case, had been handled and what the aftermath of that was – his sentencing,” Blakemore said.

Although several of the hostages were school district employees, there is no indication they were deliberately targeted by Searles-Harris, Blakemore said.

The suspect lived in a home about 3 miles away from the crime scene.

How the situation unfolded​

After police received calls about the hostage situation around 1 p.m. Tuesday, negotiators spoke to Searles-Harris by phone, police said. Members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team eventually were called to the scene, Patel said.

During negotiations, two hostages were released Tuesday: one around 4 p.m., and another shortly before 8:30 p.m., Blakemore said.

Negotiations eventually stalled, and Searles-Harris refused to release more hostages, Blakemore said.

On Wednesday morning, FBI agents entered the building to confront Searles-Harris, prompted in part by concerns about one of the hostages, Patel said.

“She was diabetic, and we knew that this is a loss-of-life situation for that particular hostage … if we didn’t act sooner than later,” Patel said.

The hostage was in touch with authorities – who were able to get medicine for her at some point – until her phone died, the special agent added.

The shooting that killed Searles-Harris happened around 4:20 a.m. Wednesday, Bakersfield police said. Bakersfield police were not involved in the shooting, they said.

Police tape was stretched across several intersections as the area around the building was cordoned off, and authorities said Wednesday morning law enforcement would remain there “for the next several hours as investigators process the scene.”

Searles-Harris served in the US Army from 2006 to 2007, and was dishonorably discharged for going absent without leave, Patel said.

Fatal shootings involving FBI agents can lengthen the time it takes for law enforcement to release a crime scene. When an FBI agent fires a weapon, a shooting review team from Washington, DC, is mobilized. The inspectors work alongside other FBI investigators to determine whether discharging the weapon fell within the bureau’s deadly force policy.

Bakersfield – known as a western cultural hub of country music – is on the southern end of California’s Central Valley. It has a population of around 420,000 – roughly the same as that of Tampa, Florida – and Bakersfield’s metropolitan area is the ninth-largest in California.
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
Mzkitty said:
*Icky*

View attachment 605324
Click to expand...
Is that really the guy?

If so, it's weird in that his pic, and the story of his capture was being posted at 5am this morn- by a single source- so I assumed it was not true.
:: shrug :: Folks are slipped so far off their crackers lately that they looked like they used to be sane, in comparison :strs:
upuknews
@upuknews1

#JUSTIN : Bakersfield Hostage Suspect Taken Into Custody

The individual who allegedly held hostages at a Chase Bank in Bakersfield while strapped with explosives has been apprehended by law enforcement.

Officials have not yet released further details regarding injuries or charges.

(c)rt <2
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2062116439730102469
View: https://twitter.com/upuknews1/status/2062116439730102469?s=20
 
auxman

auxman

Deus vult...
jward said:
Is that really the guy?

If so, it's weird in that his pic, and the story of his capture was being posted at 5am this morn- by a single source- so I assumed it was not true.
:: shrug :: Folks are slipped so far off their crackers lately that they looked like they used to be sane, in comparison :strs:
upuknews
@upuknews1

#JUSTIN : Bakersfield Hostage Suspect Taken Into Custody

The individual who allegedly held hostages at a Chase Bank in Bakersfield while strapped with explosives has been apprehended by law enforcement.

Officials have not yet released further details regarding injuries or charges.

(c)rt <2
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2062116439730102469
View: https://twitter.com/upuknews1/status/2062116439730102469?s=20
Click to expand...
He's dead. See post #30.
 
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