Press conference held after suspect shot and killed by FBI, hostages released in Bakersfield

[0:03] Good morning. Thank you for coming. We appreciate you all being here. [3:18] My name is Sally Selby. That's S-A-L-L-Y-S-E-L-B-Y. I'm the Public Affairs and Communications [3:27] Manager for the Bakersfield Police Department. I want to introduce to you Jeremy Blakemore. He [3:33] is the Bakersfield Police Department Assistant Chief. He'll be addressing you soon and also [3:39] Mr. Sid Patel, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. Please hold your [3:47] questions for now. We will have 10 minutes for questions once the speakers are done and also [3:55] additional updates will be found on all of the BPD social media platforms. So for now I'm going [4:02] to introduce A.C. Blakemore. Good morning. Thank you all for attending. As Sally mentioned, my name [4:14] is Jeremy Blakemore, Assistant Chief at the Bakersfield Police Department and I'm happy [4:19] to be here to give you an update on the status of yesterday's event. Today's press conference is [4:24] intended to provide everyone with an update related to the event that began yesterday afternoon [4:30] at the Chase Bank building just down the street from us here. But I'll preface it with the fact that [4:35] this is still an ongoing investigation and there are still some details that we're not yet able to [4:39] provide. Today's press conference will take place in two parts. First I'll give you a refresher on what [4:46] led up to us arriving at the location and then Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel from the FBI [4:54] will take the second portion where he'll touch on the elements of the FBI as well as how it concluded. [5:03] First and foremost, I do want to let everyone know that we're incredibly relieved [5:06] to report that all of the hostages that were involved have been safely recovered and reunited [5:13] with their families. There were a total of 10 members of our community whose lives were changed [5:17] yesterday unexpectedly, but we are thankful that they have been reunited with their loved ones after [5:22] this ordeal. Throughout the night their families questioned whether or not they would be seen again [5:29] but we are very grateful for the outcome and the fact that we've been able to protect their lives. [5:34] Regarding the specific details that led up to this, at approximately 1259 p.m. yesterday afternoon [5:41] we began receiving calls related to a suspect that was in possession of an explosive device who had [5:46] entered the Chase Bank building at 1515 17th Street. As the situation unfolded, our responding personnel [5:53] and dispatchers confirmed that the adult male suspect had barricaded himself within the second floor of the [5:59] building and had taken several hostages. The suspect advised he had explosives attached to his person [6:05] which our personnel could see as well. He also told law enforcement that additional explosives [6:11] had been attached to some of the hostages based on our own observations. These hostages were confirmed to [6:18] be employees of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools on the second floor of the building. [6:24] Numerous other employees and patrons had fled the building during the suspect's takeover and we [6:29] immediately began evacuating surrounding area establishments to minimize additional safety concerns to our [6:37] community. While this was being done, we were simultaneously communicating with the suspect [6:42] in an effort to release the hostages and elicit a peaceful surrender. During the negotiations process, [6:48] we were able to secure the release of two hostages, the first being at 3 59 p.m. and the second being [6:54] at 8 24 p.m. As the event continued, negotiations did stall and the suspect refused to release any more victims. [7:02] Given the nature of the circumstances and the resources, our department requested the assistance from the FBI [7:08] and we elected to transition our tactical teams for the remainder of the situation. The FBI assumed [7:14] operational control at approximately 9 02 p.m. yesterday evening. And at this time, I'll turn it [7:20] over to especially special agent in charge Sid Patel and then I'll follow up with some conclusion [7:25] concluding marks at the end. My name is Sid Patel. I'm the special agent in charge for the Sacramento FBI [7:33] field office. This has been a horrific event. We know the Bakersfield community has been following the [7:40] situation closely and we thank you for your patience. Tuesday afternoon, June 2nd, at approximately 1 30 [7:48] p.m., we received a call for assistance from the Bakersfield PD in response to reports of a bomb [7:54] threat at the Chase Bank building located at the corner of Chester Avenue and 17th Street. We responded [8:01] within minutes of that call. We have an office not too far from here with more than 150 FBI personnel to [8:09] assist. With this response investigation including our special weapons and tactics, our SWAT teams, [8:15] not just from our Sacramento SWAT team, but our LA SWAT team as well, our crisis negotiation teams, [8:22] and our Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco FBI bomb techs that were here. We also had agents, [8:31] analysts, victim specialists, professional staff, all trained for these types of incident responses [8:38] that were here. The Bakersfield Police Department was supported with every available resource, [8:44] including the FBI's hostage rescue team, who was deployed all the way from Quantico on the east coast [8:51] from its base of operations. They're our version of special forces for the FBI. They're the best of the [8:57] best, and they come out for situations like this. Now, we refer to them as HRT, hostage rescue team. The [9:05] FBI HRT, they have extensive training and experience in crisis response and deployed to situations like [9:10] this across the country and even internationally on some occasions. We're grateful for their quick [9:17] response. The subject, his name was Anthony Scott Searles Harris. That's Anthony Scott, and I'll spell the [9:25] last name S-E-A-R-L-E-S dash Harris, H-A-R-R-I-S. He was a 41-year-old white male who served in the U.S. Army [9:35] from 2006 to 2007. However, he was dishonorably discharged for going AWOL. That's absent without [9:43] leave. He was no stranger to law enforcement and has a criminal history of using weapons to commit [9:50] violent offenses. In 2014, he was charged with sex acts with a child under 14. He's a registered sex [9:59] offender. He had tied up five of the hostages on the second floor of the Kern County Superintendents [10:06] of School Office in the Chase Building. At approximately 4 p.m., Harris released one of the five [10:12] hostages. At approximately 8 30 p.m., he released a second hostage. Bakersfield PD did an amazing job [10:23] of this. Their negotiators, their SWAT teams, we were impressed. Fantastic work. At 9 p.m., [10:30] our FBI SWAT teams from Los Angeles and Sacramento, we transitioned and took over the crisis site, [10:36] but working jointly with Bakersfield PD and their negotiators. At 2 a.m., you know, after our hostage [10:45] rescue team had arrived, put together all the site surveys and information that they do, [10:50] they transitioned and took over the scene. That was around 2 a.m. At approximately 4 30 a.m. this [10:58] morning, that's when the hostage rescue team neutralized this subject. And let me be clear, [11:06] he had tied up five of the hostages, but there were 10 hostages in there and they were all unharmed [11:12] physically. I'm sure there'll be mental scars that they'll be living with and we'll have our [11:17] victim specialists to help them. We're grateful to the Bakersfield Police Department. I've got to tell [11:23] you, in the 34 counties that we serve here in the Eastern District, they're one of our strongest allies. [11:28] They have an amazing workforce here, led by Chief Brent Stratton, Stratton, I'm sorry, [11:34] and Assistant Chief Jeremy Blakemore. Thank you for their partnership, their professionalism during [11:40] the response to this incident and continued investigation. I can tell you from the Bakersfield [11:44] community, you should be proud of the police department and who serves and protects you every [11:47] single day. I know I am. We also want to thank a lot of our federal partners. ATF, they came from San [11:54] Francisco to help us out. The Homeland Security Investigations, also San Francisco based. DEA, [12:01] U.S. Marshals, Air Force OSI, the U.S. Attorney's Office. Our local and state partners, California [12:07] OES, Office of Emergency Services. CHP, they've been a strong partners for us across the state. [12:14] Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Bomb Squad, they flew down here to help us out. Kern County Sheriff's [12:21] Department, Bakersfield Fire, they're here throughout the night. Great partners. EMS [12:28] Halls Ambulance Service, they're also tremendous. And all the other local, state, and federal partners [12:36] that were here. I mean, we had quite a bit of a response here. It was truly one team, one fight [12:40] effort here. Our FBI personnel that live in the greater Bakersfield area and work in our Bakersfield [12:47] Resident Agency, we have an office here not too far, like I mentioned, know how strong this community [12:51] is. And we stand together as we heal from this incident. We also want you and the public to know [12:59] how you can help us. If it's an immediate threat, of course, call 9-1-1. But if you have information [13:05] about this ongoing investigation that can help us, reach out to us. Go to tips.fbi.gov or call us at [13:12] 1-800-CALL-FBI. I'd like to turn it back now to Assistant Chief Blake Warne. Thank you. [13:19] All right, at this time we'll take some questions before doing some concluding remarks. Yes, ma'am. [13:26] Sure. I'll turn it over in a second, but I can tell you from the perspective of the PD, [13:47] there's a totality of circumstances that we're evaluating as these things are evolving, [13:52] intelligence that we're gathering as it relates to some of the observations we had, [13:55] some of the mannerisms he was doing, some of the things that we were hearing and seeing. [14:00] But all of those things were taken into context. And the reality is, quite frankly, [14:04] there was not a full confirmation in either direction. We always err on the side of caution in [14:09] the sense of making sure that we're taking care of our victims, in this case, as much as we possibly [14:15] can. But it was based on the circumstances that we had at the time that FBI chose to move in and make [14:21] the tactical entry. Did they enter the building? [14:23] Yeah, absolutely. [14:26] Sure. [14:26] So let me speak to that a bit more too, and I can answer the second question as well. [14:31] So it's a holistic approach, right? The circumstances, how erratic is he, the individual? [14:37] Keep in mind, we also had a hostage in there that we knew because the individual, she had her phone [14:43] with her and was in communication with us until the phone died. And at one point, we were able to [14:49] get medicine to her, but she was diabetic. And we knew that this was a loss of life situation for that [14:54] particular hostage that was taken if we didn't act sooner than later. We also know because of the other [15:00] circumstances and our trained professionals that of his behavior, we had to act at that point in time. [15:05] And yes, the entry was made through the conversations they were having through the [15:09] door and the negotiators that were working through there. So this is an ongoing investigation. [15:26] We have to find other pieces, any potential other aspects to it, ideology, any of those pieces. [15:32] I will tell you there were multiple IEDs that presented a concern for us that we had to evaluate [15:38] and look into and have our bomb techs look over afterwards and make sure that they were inert [15:44] or not plausible. But that's probably as far as I can go with that. So we're still doing further [15:52] testing on it, but we were able to conclude at this point in time that they were not a concern to us. [16:00] We're still continuing with that investigative piece. There are aspects that were concerning to us, [16:10] but we're continuing on with that analysis of what we were able to obtain from that search warrant. [16:15] We we found some concerning items in there from the investigative piece. But again, [16:26] we're continuing to evaluate those and look further into it. Yep. I those first two releases. [16:41] Yes, there were it was through Bakersfield PD. And yes, there were if you want to take on some [16:45] of that piece. But yes, we're going to touch on that. Yes, through the negotiation process, [16:48] as you can imagine, there's obvious back and forth dialogue. Yes, there's a lot of back and forth [16:54] that's taking place during the during the dialogue and the negotiation process. [16:58] In terms of what took place during these specific ones, there was discussions and exchanges related [17:03] to food and water, those types of things. There was also some elements that were related to his [17:11] previous court case and in terms of materials that he wanted to see. So we were able to provide [17:17] some of that in exchange for getting release of the hostages. Good question. From what we can tell at [17:28] this point, again, as it's been said, this is an ongoing investigation, but it does not appear that [17:33] KCSO KC SOS was an intended target in any way in terms of the employees specifically, those types of [17:40] things. It's still under investigation at this point. Yes, we are. At least one video I'm aware [17:54] of that we are a new investigation in relation to what at this point is part of the totality of the [18:04] case that we're looking at anyway in terms of motive and those types of things. But I mean, [18:07] his previous case history is being looked at, but I wouldn't suggest in the sense of it's [18:11] nothing's being reopened in that sense. No, nothing that we have at this point that we can [18:15] share beyond what we've already expressed. At this point, we cannot confirm that. We do not [18:25] have anything that leads us to believe there was anyone else directly involved at this moment. [18:34] Most of it was directed toward conversations led us to believe that he was really concerned about his [18:39] previous case history. There were specific elements that he was very frustrated. I think, [18:44] as some have expressed on some of his social media things that he's released, that he had some [18:48] concerns related to how his previous cases or case had been handled and what the aftermath of that [18:55] was, the sentencing and those types of things. No, I think I spoke to that earlier. It had to do with [19:06] the hostage that was in there that we knew had health concerns and there could have been a potential loss [19:10] of life for that hostage and just from the erratic behavior and how our trained professionals assess the [19:17] situation. It was the right time to do it. I'm sorry, what was that? So I can't speak to those particular [19:25] details, right? And we usually don't speak to those details of our tactics and how we use it. [19:29] But I can tell you that there's a lot of different tactics that can be used in this kind of situation. [19:33] This was a little bit more upfront because we were in conversation with the individual, right? [19:37] Physically there. What was that? There were individuals in that location that were not fully aware to the subject. [19:51] Was he just trying to get your attention? [19:56] We'll find out more as we go forward with the investigation. I will tell you that at one point [20:05] he had asked for early on that notoriety of having FBI involved as well and FBI negotiators. [20:12] And so my assumption would be by targeting a bank or some federal institution, there's a greater chance [20:20] to have like a like a bank robbery if there was the case to have a federal intervention in that case. [20:25] But we'll go with two more questions. So there was that was brought up in that was brought up in [20:37] the conversation at one point, but there was not any communication that was taking place between him [20:43] and his daughter. It was based on the negotiations. Quite frankly, it was based on the successful [20:51] negotiations that we had involving our personnel. Again, working for hours communicating with these [20:57] folks. It was again, those ongoing conversations that we had related to exchanges of food and water [21:07] and some of the materials from previous court cases. So we're going to go ahead and wrap this up now. [21:12] Thank you so much. As I said earlier, please go ahead and follow our social media for any additional updates. [21:18] Thank you. Thank you, Sal.