FBI official says hostage rescue teams carried out simultaneous operations in California and Ohio, rescuing 10 civilians

An agency official with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said the FBI’s central command and Tier 1 hostage rescue elements conducted simultaneous operations this week in Bakersfield, California, and Cincinnati, Ohio, freeing 10 civilians in the California incident and apprehending a suspect in Ohio.

The official told reporters that when the current administration took office it built a central command and a tactical Tier 1 hostage rescue capability "so they can be on standby and ready to action at a moment's notice." The official described the Bakersfield case as an overnight incident in which a criminal took "10 innocent Americans" hostage and "strapped a bomb to himself inside an office school building." According to the official, the FBI launched a fixed‑wing asset with a full Tier 1 element, breached the compound later that evening, subdued the perpetrator and "rescued all 10 civilians." The official said, "Everyone was safeguarded."

On a near‑simultaneous incident in Ohio, the agency official said a different individual had bomb‑making material and eight explosive devices next to an apartment building and “threatened to blow up people seeing the surrounding area.” The official said another tactical element of the hostage rescue team breached the apartment, apprehended the individual and ensured no devices detonated, safeguarding the surrounding complex.

The official credited a cross‑functional critical incident response group — from pilots and tacticians to tactical operators, evidence technicians and field agents on the ground — for executing the simultaneous overnight operations. "They came together in dozens overnight in the middle of the night to execute simultaneous operations," the official said.

In a forceful closing remark, the agency official warned potential attackers: "If you wish to do harm to our citizens by igniting, explosive devices or taking people hostage, we're gonna come in that door, and we're gonna put you down." The official did not provide additional operational details, casualty figures beyond those mentioned, or a time stamp for the operations in the transcript.

Questions from the initial questioner focused on how the FBI resolves multiple simultaneous incidents; the agency official described organizational capacity and the specific outcomes in the two incidents but did not supply further operational timelines or reporting documents during the exchange.