BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Local, state and federal agencies that responded to the bomb threat and hostage incident at the Chase Bank building in downtown Bakersfield were recognized at the Bakersfield City Council meeting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
John Mendiburu, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, made the presentation before the City Council at City Hall \u2014 right across the street from where the 15-hour long incident took place last Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u2018This was a high stakes game\u2019: Bakersfield police negotiators were face-to-face with bomb, hostage suspect Anthony Searles-Harris <\/a><\/p>\n Ahead of the presentation, Mayor Karen Goh said what happened at the Chase Bank building that day was unimaginable and that she was grateful for the way the community united.<\/p>\n Mendiburu thanked all the agencies \u2014 including local agencies like the Bakersfield Police Department, Fire Department, Hall Ambulance and Kern County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services \u2014 who responded to the incident on behalf of KCSOS and KCSOS families.<\/p>\n He said it was an event you\u2019d never wish upon anybody nor want to happen ever again, but the local, state and federal agencies worked together efficiently.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city of Bakersfield shined that evening and the employees extremely appreciated the compassion and the collaboration and the dedication that all of the agencies provided,\u201d said Mendiburu.<\/p>\n At around 1 p.m. June 2, Bakersfield police were notified of a man making a threat at the Chase Bank building at 17th Street and Chester Avenue.<\/p>\n The suspect, later identified as Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, had barricaded himself in the second floor of the building with 10 hostages. The hostages were all KCSOS employees.<\/p>\n