Hostage Crisis At Clinton HQ [Update: Resolved Without Injury]

Via Drudge, at around 1:00 pm, a nut claiming to have a bomb strapped to his chest is holding at least two people hostage at Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire campaign headquarters and demanding to speak to the candidate.

State Police said the man released a mother and a child from the office, but is holding others.
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Clinton is not there. She is in Washington. The Senator was scheduled to appear by satellite at a Democratic National Committee event in Virginia this afternoon, but she has cancelled her appearance.
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Workers for Sen. Barack Obama's campaign office in Rochester also were evacuated, a campaign spokesman said. The office is four doors away from Clinton's. John Edwards' staffers and several businesses in the neighborhood also were evacuated.

A nearby school is locked down.

Police have gathered at a nearby church and set up a command post there. SWAT teams and the State Police bomb squad are also on scene.

From Breitbart:

Witness Lettie Tzizik told television station WMUR of Manchester that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the office by the suspect. The woman was carrying an infant, and crying.

"She said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape," Tzizik said.

WMUR has live ideo coverage available online.

Update 2:55:  According to their reports, the SWAT team is attempting to get a phone inside the building to speak with the hostage taker.

Update 3:05:  Cameras have just shown a SWAT team member leading a young woman away from the building.  Hostage count down to one?

Police now confirm the woman was a hostage.

Update 3:10:  Police now say that woman was the second of two hostages to be released  Hostage count down to zero?  WMUR's on-site reporter says the SWAT posture remains unchanged.

Update 3:15:  Local schools under "soft lockdown" now said to be releasing students to their parents.

Update 3:20:  According to ABC News, law enforcement says the suspect is an older man, known locally, with a history of mental illness, who told his son this morning to "watch the news" today.

Update 3:42:  Press conference in 5 minutes (Update 3:50: or not).  Rochester police captain unable to confirm hostage count.

Update 3:50:  Hostage count still muddy.  It appears there were originally four people in the building (in addition to the hostage taker) including a woman and her baby who ran out immediately, leaving two hostages left inside.

The young woman shown leaving building at 3:05 has been confirmed to be the "second hostage" released, but it's unclear if that count began when the standoff ramped up (i.e. after the woman and her child were released) or if the woman+baby are being collectively counted as the first hostage released, which would suggest there's still one hostage inside.  Adding to future confusion, local reporters said they saw another person enter the building in the last few minutes.

Not counting the person who may have entered recently, it sounds to me like there's likely still one hostage inside.  The cameras that are actually broadcasting are focusing away from law enforcement (and thus the front door), to avoid informing the hostage taker of their activities, but you'd think someone would've captured footage of the other hostage being led out.

Update 4:00:  Cops are now setting up large, sealed plastic buckets that appear to be tethered together around the perimeter of the building.

Update 4:05:  Allah: "I’m not going to repeat the name until it’s confirmed but Carl Cameron’s interviewing a kid on Fox who says the suspect is a friend of the family and that the guy’s been having mental problems lately, allegedly complaining that the government is planting bugs in his head."  Michelle:  FNC identifying the suspect as Troy Stanley and describing him as a conspiracy theorizer. Mother reportedly negotiating to get him to surrender.

Rochester police log (via HuffPo):

Tuesday, Aug. 14 [2007]

Troy Alan Stanley, 44, of 15 Strafford Inn, Farmington, is charged with criminal trespass and obstructing government administration.
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Monday, Sept. 3

Troy Alan Stanley, 44, of 287 Rochester Hill Road, 201, is charged with criminal trespass.
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Tuesday, Nov. 6

Troy Alan Stanley, 44, of Rochester Hill Road, is arrested on a bench warrant for disorderly conduct.

HuffPo:                               

From Fox:

We were told by an eyewitness that the suspect is named Troy Stanley. The eyewitness reporting this to Fox News is Cody Bennet. Cody Bennet is friends with Troy Stanley's son, Troy Stanley Jr. According to Troy Stanley Jr, his father went to a hardware story earlier in the day and bought road side flares to use as fake explosive devices.

A Huffington blogger also called Stanley's house, where she reached this elementary school-style prank voice mail greeting.

The phone picks up after just one ring and the caller hears, "Hello? (pause) hello? (pause) hello (pause). Leave a message. Later. (Beep)

Update 4:30:  The tethered buckets were apparently part of the communications line that police are trying to (or possibly have now) set up.

 A woman named Chelsea Cool being interviewed by WMUR says she spoke to the hostage taker's stepson earlier in the standoff at the nearby Governor's Inn looking for coffee.  According to Cool, he said that he and his mother were having a rough day of being questioned by the police, that his stepfather is unemployed, not in the right state of mind, in the throes of a divorce, had been drinking for 72 hours, and had asked his stepson where he could buy road flares.  (On-air reporters are occasionally reporting Cool as having said the man in the restaurant asked her where he could buy road flares, but that's not what she said.)

Update 4:40:  Police press conference beginning now, with Rochester PD Captain Callahan.  The "situation is still fluid."  After stating, "This is a hostage situation," Callahan then backpedaled when pressed for confirmation, refraining from confirming whether any hostages remain in the building.  "There have been no reported injuries."  Details of road flare issue "not appropriate to release at this time."  Wouldn't comment on report's question whether the suspect is Troy Stanley.

Press conference over.  News value: nil, other than confirmation of no reported injuries, which is good news.

Update 5:35:  FNC is now showing footage of another young woman recently led out of the building and driven away in a SWAT vehicle.   On the scene, Carl Cameron's best information suggests there is still one hostage inside.

Update: 5:50:  A local paper is identifying the suspect as Leeland Eisenberg, not Troy Stanley.  Fox is reporting that Stanley may have one or more aliases, suggesting both may be correct.  Many of the reported details are similar: in his 40s, salt-and-pepper hair, well known to Rochester PD, with a history of mental illness.  Cameron notes, however, that if Eisenberg, not Stanley, is the hostage taker, the road flare detail may be incorrect.

Update 6:15:  Soon after another female hostage emerged and was led away, a man followed and was shortly down on the ground, cuffed, and taken into SWAT custody.  If that's the only suspect and if there's no remaining bomb threat, the standoff lasted about 5.5 hours.

From the somewhat confused timeline of hostage releases, it sounds like the total hostage count was 5 or 6, though that may or may not include the baby and/or the person reported to have entered the building midway throught the standoff.

Update 6:30:  Leeland Eisenberg was arrested by Rochester PD in April (for stalking) and again in June (for drunk driving) and his age is listed as 46.  Stanley's age was listed as 44.  Eisenberg's address is listed as Milton Road, whereas Stanley's is given as Rochester Hill Road or Stratford Inn.  A man with multiple aliases might also be expected to have multiple passable IDs, but if each is said to be well known to local police, their frequent arrests would suggest authorities could tell them apart.

Update 6:40:  Cameron firms up the count: 6 adult hostages, plus the baby.

Others blogging who may have updates:
Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Captain's Quarters, Blogs of War, Wizbang, Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah