US police negotiate Bakersfield hostage standoff at Chase bank

Police were locked in negotiations with a man holding hostages inside a building that houses a Chase bank branch and school district office in the Southern California city of Bakersfield, officials said. Officers responding to a call of a bomb threat arrived at the scene around 1 pm Tuesday night at the Chase Bank building in downtown Bakersfield, and discovered that a man had barricaded himself inside “with several community members”, the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement. Through negotiations, two of the hostages were released and the rest are in “good health,” city police Sgt Eric Celedon said. “We have every single resource at our disposal out here to bring this to the safest resolution possible,” he said.

Nearby buildings were evacuated, including city hall and the police headquarters, and some roads were temporarily closed, according to officials. Officers established a perimeter around the building and nearby businesses, authorities said. Celedon warned the public to stay out of the area, explaining that this is still a very active situation. A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said its branch is on the ground floor of the building and is currently empty. The company is working with authorities.  The department’s crisis negotiation team was in contact with the suspect by telephone.