Police: Gunman Killed After Trying to Breach FBI Office

Update: This file has been updated with the suspect's death.
A hourslong standoff that began after an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach the FBI's Cincinnati field office Thursday ended when the suspect was shot and killed by police, the Ohio Highway State Patrol said. Federal officials said the man had "attempted to breach" the visitors screening area at the FBI office in the morning and fled when he was confronted by agents, the AP reports. He was chased onto Interstate 71 and exchanged gunfire with police, according to the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency. The suspect then abandoned his car, per WXIX.

Police said officers tried to negotiate with the man during the standoff, which ended in midafternoon, per the New York Times. When nonlethal tactics were used to try to take him into custody and failed, officers said, police shot him after he raised a gun. Officials, who said no one else was injured, did not identify the suspect or discuss a possible motive. Officials have warned of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Investigators are looking into whether the man had ties to extremist groups, including one involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, per the Times.

There have been growing threats in recent days against FBI agents and offices across the country since federal agents searched Trump's home. On Gab, a social media site popular with white supremacists and anti-Semites, users have warned they are preparing for an armed revolution. FBI Director Christopher Wray denounced the threats as he visited another FBI office in Nebraska on Wednesday. The FBI also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are "not visible outside FBI space," citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities.

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