Hostages At Clinton Campaign Office
Two Hillary Clinton campaign workers in Rochester, Hew Hampshire have been taken hostage, WMUR reports.
An armed man has taken two campaign workers hostage at the Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, police said.
Officials with the campaign confirmed that there were two workers taken hostage in the office on 28 North Main St.. A woman and her baby told workers at a neighboring business that she was released by the hostage-taker.
“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,'” witness Lettie Tzizik said. Witnesses described the man as in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair.
There are several police officers positioned across the street from the office, crouched down behind cruisers with guns drawn, according to a reported at the scene.
“I walked out and I immediately started running, and I saw that the road was blocked off. They told me run and keep going,” said Cassandra Hamilton, who works in an office adjacent to the building.
Nearby businesses have been evacuated, and the St. Elizabeth Seton School has been locked down. Several elementary and middle schools in the areas locked their doors in what officials called a “soft lockdown.” Children at the McLelland School, Maple Street School and William Allen School were only being released directly to their parents.
“There are sharp shooters on the roof, and police are negotiating with someone in the building,” said another witness, who did not want to be identified. “The police are notifying all the business owners on the street to evacuate. There are fire trucks behind the Hillary Clinton office.”
Clinton, who is not in New Hampshire, is attending a National Democratic Committee meeting in Virginia. Presidential candidate Barack Obama also has an office in Rochester, and it has been evacuated. There were no reports of any injuries.
Quite bizarre. Obviously, all hope this ends without injury to any innocents.
The link is to an evolving story and WMUR has video updates as well. MSNBC also has video but the information appears to be quite limited.
The story’s about an hour old but there’s already plenty of blogger buzz.
Photo source: MSNBC
Actually it is in Rochester not Manchester.
Fixed, thanks. The reporting station is in Manchester — the city of the HQ isn’t mentioned until the last paragraph. – JHJ
If someone tried this trick in the office of a Republican nominee they would have been taught a lesson in the Second Amendment really quickly.
Perhaps Hillzilla will re-think her position supporting the attack on our fundamental rights.