Hostages held inside Wells Fargo bank in St. Cloud, Minnesota; police and FBI negotiating for their release
Category: News & Politics
Via: sister-mary-agnes-ample-bottom • 3 years ago • 7 commentsBy: Anna Haecherl and Erik Newland (MSN)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
© Dave Schwarz, dschawrz@stcloudtimes.com Police were dispatched Thursday afternoon to a report of a possible robbery in progress at Wells Fargo Bank at 200 33rd Ave. S in St. Cloud
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Several bank employees are being held hostage inside a Wells Fargo bank and police are trying to negotiate their release with the help of the FBI.
Negotiators were working late into the evening - six hours into the standoff - to free all hostages. At least four of the captives had been released as of 8:30 p.m. CT.
It's unclear how many people remain inside the bank.
The reporter posted a video Thursday evening showing a female hostage being released to awaiting armed law enforcement officers outside the front door of the bank. Someone inside also hurls what appears to be a wad of cash out the door, and the bills float in the air for several seconds.
A short time later, another video from the same reporter showed a second female hostage being released and led outside the bank. Two videos around 30 minutes later show a third and a fourth hostage walking out of the bank doors to police.
© Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com The first female hostage comes out of the Wells Fargo bank building where she had been held for hours, St. Cloud police said.
Several dozen people are watching the spectacle at the bank from a safe distance. Many cheered when some of the hostages were released.
St. Cloud police are negotiating with a suspect to release all employees, Lt. Lori Ellering said in a news release. The number of bank employees held hostage was unknown.
There were no reports of injures but police and FBI are working with SWAT teams to watch over the bank.
"We can confirm a hostage situation at Wells Fargo's St. Cloud South branch, located at 200 33rd Avenue South," said Staci Schiller, Wells Fargo spokesperson. "We are cooperating with local law enforcement and will do whatever we can to assist the authorities in their investigation.
"We recognize this is a traumatic moment for the community and our colleagues. The safety and security of our customers and employees is our most important priority."
The city is about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Thursday afternoon, police were sent to a report of a possible robbery in progress at Wells Fargo Bank at 200-33rd Ave. S in St. Cloud, according to police.
The FBI is assisting with the investigation and people are being asked to avoid the area.
Journalists on the scene report the presence of armored vehicles and squad cars from St. Cloud, Sartell and Sauk Rapids police, the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.
© Dave Schwarz, dschawrz@stcloudtimes.com Police were dispatched Thursday afternoon to a report of a possible robbery in progress at Wells Fargo Bank at 200 33rd Ave. S in St. Cloud
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Several bank employees are being held hostage inside a Wells Fargo bank and police are trying to negotiate their release with the help of the FBI.
If it's the CEO's, that's cool.
Wells Fargo is a giant fraud.
I don’t get it, why would anyone actually try to rob a bank? When does anyone ever get away with it? When has law enforcement ever been like “well, they have hostages so let’s give in to all of their demands and let them make a clean getaway.”
The cops aren’t just going to let you go, end of story. All taking hostages does is add years and years to your prison sentence.
Damn fools, the folks in Minnesota don't take kindly to having their banks robbed. Just check out what happened to Jesse and Frank James and the Younger brothers, they meet the end in the Great Northfield MN Raid.
I doubt if these robbers are going to do much better.
UPDATE
As per CNN:
A suspect who held five people captive during an eight-hour standoff at a Wells Fargo bank in St. Cloud, Minnesota, has been arrested, authorities said.
It was a "peaceful resolution, the best possible outcome we could have had," said St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson.
Four of the hostages were released and a fifth hostage "made a run for the door" right before the tactical units from the St. Cloud Police Department and the FBI "made a simultaneous entry and took the suspect into custody without incident," Anderson said. All of the hostages were bank employees according to police.
The hostages were uninjured and are safely at home, said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis.
Police identified the suspect as Ray Reco McNeary and said he was being held on charges related to the bank robbery and kidnapping.
Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall did not provide details on charges for McNeary, but said she had been in contact with the US Attorney's office about the "most appropriate place for charges to be brought."
St. Cloud officers were called to the bank around 2 p.m. CT Thursday for reports of a possible robbery in progress, St. Paul police said. The branch manager of the bank called police because there was a disgruntled male customer in the business and he was concerned for the safety of the employees and customers, Anderson said.
A short while later, police "received a panic alert indicating a bank robbery was in progress," said Anderson.
"When we got there, we discovered that several people had already fled the bank, about five bank employees remained and were being held hostage," Anderson said.
The motive was not known at the time of the press conference and, according to Anderson, police are still investigating whether the hostages were being held at gunpoint.
The chief also addressed a video that the suspect streamed lived on social media during the incident when asked by a reporter if it was "accurate to say he (McNeary) was taking some of the hostages' phones and then using that to go live on social media?"
"That's accurate to say, because it's already been placed out there on that demon, that social media demon. It made the job a little bit more difficult than it should have been, but it is what it is," said Anderson.
Local, state, and federal law enforcement officers provided assistance during in the standoff. Anderson praised the collaborative efforts of the teams involved saying, "I am extremely proud of the men and women, not only of the St. Cloud Police Department but certainly from the FBI as well."