A registered sex offender and former U.S. Army soldier was fatally shot by FBI agents Wednesday after allegedly strapping explosives onto himself and multiple hostages during a tense, nearly 16-hour standoff at a downtown Bakersfield, California, bank building.
The suspect, identified by FBI Sacramento as Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, was fatally shot at about 4:20 p.m. by FBI personnel and pronounced dead at the scene.
All hostages were unharmed and have since been reunited with their families, according to police.
Searles-Harris served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2007 and was dishonorably discharged after going absent without leave (AWOL), according to Sid Patel, special agent in charge of FBI Sacramento.
He had a criminal history of using weapons to commit violent offenses and, in 2014, he was arrested for sex acts with a child under 14. He was a registered sex offender.
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The incident unfolded Tuesday after the Bakersfield Police Department received a call at about 1 p.m. with reports of a bomb threat at the Chase Bank building on the corner of Chester Avenue and 17th Street, according to Bakersfield Police Assistant Chief Jeremy Blakemore.
Responding personnel and dispatchers confirmed Searles-Harris had barricaded himself on the second floor of the Kern County Superintendents of School Office in the Chase building and had tied up five of 10 hostages, Patel said.
Searles-Harris told authorities he had explosives attached to him, which the FBI said it could see, and that additional explosives had been attached to some of the hostages, which was confirmed.
The FBI confirmed there were “multiple” IEDs involved and authorities also found some additional “concerning items.”
At about 4 p.m., Searles-Harris released one of the five bound hostages and at approximately 8:30 p.m., he released a second.
It’s unclear if he was aware of the remaining hostages, who authorities say were not tied up.
FBI SWAT teams from Los Angeles and Sacramento arrived at about 9 p.m. and took over the scene at roughly 2 a.m.
“Immediately, [the] FBI jumped into action, mobilizing resources, including launching our CIRG Hostage Rescue Team — FBI’s elite tier 1 tactical unit — who flew across the country in the middle of the night preparing for a high-risk, life-saving mission,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital. “FBI Sacramento, FBI Los Angeles, and our teams across the country utilized more than 150 additional FBI personnel including SWAT, crises negotiators, Special Agent Bomb Technicians, and more — where after an intense nearly 15-hour negotiation, FBI HRT teams successfully breached the building around 4:30 a.m. local time, neutralized the subject, and safely recovered all hostages unharmed.”
“This was simply outstanding work by the men and women of the FBI with our partners at the Bakersfield Police Department who executed the mission brilliantly and saved at least 10 lives in a situation that could’ve turned deadly,” the FBI director added.
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The FBI said one of the hostages, who was diabetic, had her phone with her and was in communication with authorities until the phone died.
“We knew that this was a loss of life situation for that particular hostage that was taken if we didn’t act sooner [rather] than later,” Sid Patel said. “We also know because of the other circumstances and our trained professionals that, because of his behavior, we had to act at that point in time.”
Blakemore said most of the negotiators’ conversations with Searles-Harris led police to believe that he was “really concerned about his previous case history,” and did not intend to specifically target the Kern County Superintendents of School Office.
“There were specific elements that he was very frustrated [with],” Blakemore said. “He had some concerns related to how his previous case had been handled and what the aftermath of that was — his sentencing and those types of things.”
At one point, Searles-Harris mentioned his daughter to negotiators, according to Sid Patel.
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Authorities confirmed they were aware of a YouTube video related to Searles-Harris circulating and confirmed no other suspects were involved.
“He had asked for, early on, the notoriety of having the FBI involved… and FBI negotiators,” Sid Patel said. “My assumption would be [that] by targeting a bank or some federal institution, there’s a greater chance to have … federal intervention.”
JPMorgan Chase provided Fox News Digital with the following statement: “We are grateful to law enforcement for their swift, professional response, and we’re relieved that those who were being held are safe. The branch will remain closed until further notice; we are focused on supporting our employees during this difficult and stressful time, including providing access to resources and assistance.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for more information.
