A man claiming to have a bomb strapped to his body burst into Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign office in Rochester, N.H., today and took at least two volunteers hostage, New Hampshire television stations reported.
"There is an ongoing situation in our Rochester, NH office. We are in close contact with state and local authorities and are acting at their direction," the Clinton campaign said in a statement.
The campaign confirmed to Manchester's WMUR that two workers were taken hostage. The report quotes a witness who said a woman and her baby were released by the hostage-taker.
Via WMUR:
An armed man took hostages at the office on 28 North Main St. Friday afternoon, and officials with the campaign said that there were two workers taken hostage in the office, but police have not confirmed that those were the only two hostages in the building.
The two hostages were released at about 3 p.m.
Clinton, who is not in New Hampshire, canceled a National Democratic Committee meeting in Virginia.
Definitely a very tense situation.
More as updates come in...
Update:
MSNBC reports:
- the suspect is a white male in his 40s. (No doubt, the radical right is wishing he's Muslim because, according to them, only Muslims are terrorists.)
- the suspect wants to talk to Hillary.
- local law enforcement is familiar with the suspect who reportedly has a history of "erratic behaviour".
- negotiations continue.
4:08 ET: A police press conference is scheduled to occur within the next half hour.
Update::
The officer in charged said that they're still dealing with a "hostage situation" but wouldn't say how many hostages are still being held. Beyond that, he wouldn't release more information since the situation is ongoing.
MSNBC's coverage has been horrible. They've reported that a relative of the hostage taker who had said that the man was armed with road flares was his son, son-in-law and stepson without confirming his actual relationship. They also showed an interview with a local guy who claimed he knew the identity of the person, only to report at the top of this hour that his name is Leeland Eisenberg (sp?) (unconfirmed by authorities) - not the same name that was earlier broadcast as being Troy (?). They also said, after the police press conference in which it was announced that secret service members were on the scene, that the secret service wasn't involved. They really need to get their stories straight.
What seems to be the consensus between CNN and MSNBC is that this man has mental health issues and wanted to bring attention to the lack of services available but that's still a point of speculation as is what he's actually armed with.
For more local coverage, visit WDHD TV.
Update:
5:34 pm ET - Another female hostage has been released.
Update: 6:15 pm ET - The hostage situation is over. The last hostage, a male, was released and the suspect has been arrested
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