GB News paused for urgent death announcement

GB News was paused to announce the death of a man who took 10 people hostage inside a California office building. Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, was shot and killed by the FBI on Wednesday (June 3) after taking 10 school employees hostage and claiming he had strapped explosives to himself.

GB News presenter Ben Leo was joined by former FBI Agent James Hamilton, who explained what happened during the 15-hour hostage siege. He said: "There was a lot going on with him mentally and he wanted some type of retribution. He wanted the FBI specifically to show up or have an engagement with federal services due to his past charges, that's why he targeted a bank."

Hamilton confirmed the suspect was "neutralised" before branding the situation a "sad tale".

The ex-agent continued: "Luckily the hostages were unharmed, no law enforcement were injured. HRT did their job well as they always do."

"From the initial indication, as soon as it started, the local police started negotiating with him. The four FBI officers in California all showed up. They had a SWAT element ready. You have a plan in case it goes south, fast.

"If he starts killing people, they have to be ready to do what's called an immediate breach and then they'd ask HRT to show up from Virginia, in which they were able to do so."

He revealed the Hostage Rescue Team took over at around 2am before negotiations "completely broke down".

Hamilton added: "They felt as though this guy was getting more volatile and they decided to breach. When they breached, there was a shooting and the suspect was neutralised."

The hostages, half of which were tied up, were found unharmed in the building, which also houses a bank.

"Throughout the night, their families questioned whether or not they would be seen again but we are very grateful for the outcome," Bakersfield Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Blakemore said during a news conference Wednesday.

Sid Patel, the special agent in charge in the FBI’s Sacramento office said: "I’m sure there’ll be mental scars that they’re living with, and we’ll have our victim specialist to help them."

While authorities declined to discuss details about the motive behind the case, Blakemore said some of the demands from Searles-Harris, a former army veteran and registered sex offender, related to an earlier case.

"He had concerns related to how his previous case had been handled and what the aftermath of that was, the sentencing and those kinds of things," he said.