{"id":345358,"date":"2026-06-03T20:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345358\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:42:27","slug":"california-bank-suspect-identified-after-being-shot-dead-by-fbi-as-details-emerge-of-hostage-ordeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345358\/","title":{"rendered":"California bank suspect identified after being shot dead by FBI as details emerge of hostage ordeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Anthony Scott Searles-Harris pictured \"\"(California Department of Justice)<\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 20:15<\/p>\n

<\/a>Witness to hostage situation describes chaos: ‘You sort of see everything flash before you’ <\/p>\n

A witness to the horrifying hostage situation said the suspect entered Chase Bank and said: \u201cIt\u2019s a bad day to be at the bank.\u201d <\/p>\n

Freddy Arredondo was at the bank Tuesday afternoon when Anthony Scott Searles-Harris entered the building with explosive devices strapped to his body and began to cause a scene. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was just fearing for my wife, she was outside, my kids, not being able to ever see them again. It was just a lot right there. You sort of feel everything flash before you,\u201d he told KGET. <\/a><\/p>\n

Arredondo said that as the suspect began a speech, he slowly started to back away. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just turned around and started running out and that\u2019s when he started screaming. But when I did that everybody else ran out too so it sort of gave everybody a little more of a chance,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Searles-Harris took 10 people on the second floor of the building hostage before he was shot and killed by an FBI agent early Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n

All of the hostages were released and are uninjured, authorities said. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 18:52<\/p>\n

<\/a>Man who held 10 people hostage identified as sex offender with violent history<\/p>\n

The man who held 10 people hostage in a California bank building while threatening to detonate explosives has been identified as Anthony Scott Searles-Harris. <\/p>\n

Searles-Harris, 41, had a history of violence and is a registered sex offender, according to Sid Patel, who leads the FBI\u2019s Sacramento field office. <\/p>\n

He also served in the U.S. Army before he was discharged after going AWOL.<\/p>\n

Searles-Harris was shot and killed around 4:20 a.m., 15 hours after the standoff with authorities began. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 18:18<\/p>\n

<\/a>Ten hostages held during incident <\/p>\n

Ten people were held hostage in the Chase Bank building after a suspect barricaded himself inside and said he had explosives on his body, authorities confirmed during a press conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly relieved to report that all of the hostages involved have been safely recovered,\u201d Bakersfield Assistant Chief of Police Jeremy Blakemore said. <\/p>\n

Five of the hostages were tied up by the suspect, but all 10 were released without harm. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 18:12<\/p>\n

<\/a>Bakersfield Police to hold press conference<\/p>\n

The Bakersfield Police Department is set to hold a press conference starting at 10 a.m. local time. <\/p>\n

Authorities said additional information would be released as it becomes available. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 17:59<\/p>\n

<\/a>SWAT team swarmed building overnight, brought a man out <\/p>\n

About 50 SWAT members swarmed the building where a suspect was holding people hostage overnight and brought a man outside, according to a report. <\/p>\n

Witnesses told NBC LA<\/a> that they saw SWAT members enter the building around 2:30 a.m. before bringing a man \u2014 possibly the suspect \u2014 outside. <\/p>\n

Video seen by the outlet showed officers escorting a group of about seven people out of the building. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 17:32<\/p>\n

<\/a>Details about the suspect remain unclear<\/p>\n

Authorities said the suspect who held multiple people hostage in California overnight was killed \u2014 but have shared few other details about him. <\/p>\n

The suspect reportedly entered a building that houses Chase Bank and a school district office around 1 p.m. Tuesday and claimed to have a bomb. <\/p>\n

Bakersfield police then responded to the hostage situation and were able to negotiate the release of two people late Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The suspect was reportedly barricaded inside the building with several hostages. Authorities have not said how many people were held hostage. <\/p>\n

Authorities have not shared the name of the suspect or a potential motive. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 17:15<\/p>\n

<\/a>Suspect was killed in ‘officer-involved shooting’ with FBI <\/p>\n

The suspect holding people hostage in a California building that houses a bank was killed in an \u201cofficer-involved shooting,\u201d police said. <\/p>\n

The Bakersfield Police Department specified that the suspect was killed in the shooting by FBI personnel, not a local officer. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 16:45<\/p>\n

<\/a>Road closures remain in effect as police warn of traffic delays <\/p>\n

Several roads in Bakersfield will remain closed off on Wednesday, even as the hostage situation has concluded. <\/p>\n

Police warned on social media that traffic closures are in effect between Truxtun Avenue and 18th Street, as well as between H Street and K Street. <\/p>\n

\u201cMotorists are encouraged to avoid the area for the next several hours and seek alternative routes. Delays are expected until sometime this afternoon,\u201d police said. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 16:10<\/p>\n

<\/a>Suspect dead and hostages released<\/p>\n

The suspect holding people hostage inside a Chase Bank building in California has been killed, and all of the hostages have been released, authorities said Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n

The hostage situation concluded at approximately 4:20 a.m. with an officer-involved shooting involving FBI personnel, the Bakersfield Police Department said in an update. <\/p>\n

All of the hostages were found uninjured. They received medical evaluation and treatment at the scene, police said. <\/p>\n

Authorities have not shared how many people were being held hostage or the identity of the suspect involved. <\/p>\n

Additional information will be released at a 10 a.m. press conference, authorities said. <\/p>\n

Isabel Keane3 June 2026 15:53<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Scott Searles-Harris pictured (California Department of Justice) Isabel Keane3 June 2026 20:15 Witness to hostage situation describes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-345358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}