BREAKING: One Hostage Released, One Remains
UPDATE: A female hostage has been released to the tactical response unit. The unit was also given a note from the suspect, who police now say that local authorities know him from a previous incident and is known to have emotional problems. Also, it is now known that earlier in the day the suspect reportedly went to a local hardware store and purchased bomb-making materials. Live Free or Die, New Hampshire!
There have been other reports that all candidates' campaign offices are essentially under lockdown. All Romney field offices are literally locked. Meanwhile, Clinton, who was in Washington today and scheduled to deliver a speech at the DNC fall meeting, has canceled her schedule for the rest of the day. Her office released this statement: "There is an ongoing situation in our Rochester, N.H., office. We are in close contact with state and local authorities and are acting at their direction. We will release additional details as appropriate."
Authorities continue negotiations with a white man who barged into Sen. Hillary Clinton's Rochester, NH campaign office around 1 pm with a bomb strapped to his chest, holding two volunteers hostage. He reportedly released one woman and her child, and currently has at least one volunteer held hostage. The suspect is reportedly demanding to speak with Hillary Clinton. Negotiations are ongoing.
MSNBC reports:
WMUR-TV quoted a woman, Lettie Tzizik, saying she spoke to someone who said she had just been released by the man.
"A young woman with a 6-month- or 8-month-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and 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.'"
Police surrounded the building, evacuated the immediate area and placed other buildings, including a nearby school, under lockdown.
"There are sharpshooters on the roof, and police are negotiating with someone in the building," another witness told WMUR-TV. "There are fire trucks behind the Hillary Clinton office."
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. Staffers in John Edwards' office, a few buildings away, evacuated as well.
Rochester is located in northern New Hampshire near the Maine state line.