Federal officers rescued 10 hostages at a Bakersfield bank in the early hours of Wednesday morning, ending the crisis by killing the suspect. 

FBI agents shot and killed Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, around 4:20 a.m. 

Driving the news: Police officers were notified about a bomb threat at the Chase Bank building in downtown Bakersfield Tuesday around 1 p.m. 

All of the surrounding buildings were quickly evacuated, and law enforcement revealed that 10 people were taken hostage on the second floor of the building, which houses the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office. The hostages were identified as employees of the Superintendent’s Office. 

The big picture: All 10 hostages emerged unharmed from the situation after Searles-Harris was killed. 

Police said two hostages had been released Tuesday night after negotiators talked with Searles-Harris by phone. 

All of the hostages received medical attention after the incident ended. 

Zoom in: While officials did not speculate on what the motive was behind the hostage situation, they said Searles-Harris made some demands regarding some materials from a previous legal case of his. 

Court records show that Searles-Harris was convicted in 2014 of sexual crimes related to a child under 14 years of age and that he was released from prison in 2018. He was listed on the state’s sex offender registry. 

Searles-Harris also served for one year in the Army before being dishonorably discharged for going absent without leave in 2007. 

What they’re saying: Sid Patel, the FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento Field Office, called the situation a “horrific event.” 

Patel said the FBI responded with 150 personnel and brought SWAT teams from Sacramento and Los Angeles on site, as well as FBI bomb techs from those two cities and San Francisco. 

Patel said the FBI Hostage Rescue Team that was deployed came from the east coast. 

Kern County Superintendent of Schools John Mendiburu thanked all law enforcement agencies for saving the hostages. 

“We are incredibly relieved that the incident inside the Chase Building, during which 10 Kern County Superintendent of Schools employees were held against their will, has been resolved without physical injury to any KCSOS staff members,” Mendiburu said in a statement. “What unfolded was undoubtedly a terribly frightening and unsettling experience, and the composure our employees demonstrated throughout the 16-hour ordeal was extraordinary.”