FBI kills alleged hostage-taker after 12-hour Bakersfield standoff

FBI agents in the United States shot and killed a man accused of keeping people hostage inside a California building, bringing a lengthy Bakersfield standoff to an end.

The confrontation lasted 12 hours at an office complex that includes a bank branch and a school district office. Bakersfield police said in a statement that the suspect died in “an officer-involved shooting involving Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel”.

Officers were first sent to the site after receiving a report of a bomb threat. Police said the man later shut himself inside the building with several people. After talks with law enforcement, two of the hostages were freed on Tuesday.

Authorities placed a broad security cordon around the area and cleared nearby City Hall as well as police headquarters. Bakersfield police sergeant Eric Celedon told reporters on Tuesday that the department had “every single resource at our disposal out here to bring this to the safest resolution possible”.