User:Thelarper/sandbox

Bakersfield Hostage Crisis
Location	35°22′26″N 119°01′09.29″W JP Morgan Chase, Bakersfield, California, United States of America
Date	June 2nd, 2026 - June 3rd, 2026
Target	JP Morgan Chase
Attack type	Hostage-taking, Siege, possible bank robbery
Weapons	Bomb
Deaths	1 (the perpetrator)
Injured	No reported injuries
Perpetrator	Anthony Scott Searle-Harris

On June 2nd, 2026, 41 year old Anthony Scott Searles-Harris entered a building in Downtown Bakersfield with a bomb strapped to his chest. Searles-Harris proceeded to take 10~ hostages employed by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

Perpetrator

Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, (1984 or 1985 — June 3rd, 2026) aged 41, a former U.S. Army soldier (served 2006 - 2007) who was dishonorably discharged for going on absent without prior permssion. In 2014, Searles-Harris arrested on sex crimes charges involving a underage female at a party where drugs and alcohol were used.

Hostage Crisis

Around 1:00 p.m. PST, Searles-Harris entered the Chase building on 17th Street and Chester Avenue with a alleged bomb strapped to his chest and took 10 hostages and barricading himself, beginning the 15 hour situation. The Bakersfield Police Department were alerted that a man with a bomb entered and arrived quickly, and began evacuating the nearby buildings and setting up a perimeter. Agents and members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation SWAT from the Las Angeles FBI Office and Sacramento FBI Office was contacted. Around 11:00 p.m. the FBI began SWAT operations with their Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and SWAT. The FBI and BPD was able to get in contact with a employee of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools who was diabetic. When the employee's phone ran out of battery, the The HRT was reported to have stormed the building and killed Searles-Harris around 4:30 a.m.