WASHINGTON: An armed man who tried to breach the Cincinnati office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday morning was shot dead by law enforcement personnel, reported Xinhua.
The male attempted to breach the visitor screening facility at the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, at approximately 9:15 a.m. Eastern Time (1315 GMT), according to a statement from the federal law enforcement agency.
The subject fled and was encountered by law enforcement officers near Wilmington, Ohio, where they exchanged gunfire in which he “was shot and is deceased” in the afternoon.
The FBI said it is “reviewing this agent-involved shooting.”
The Ohio State Highway Patrol tweeted troopers and their law enforcement partners “attempted to negotiate with the suspect to bring the standoff to a peaceful end” throughout the afternoon.
“Once negotiations failed, officers attempted to take the suspect into custody by utilising less lethal tactics,“ the police wrote. “The suspect raised a firearm and shots were fired by law enforcement officers. The suspect succumbed to fatal injuries on scene.”
Federal investigators are reportedly examining whether the male may have had ties to far-right extremist groups.
It remains unclear what his motive was in trying to break into the FBI Cincinnati field office.
The incident came days after FBI agents raided former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The operation was said to have been related to classified materials that Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, when he left office in January 2021.
Trump and his allies denounced the raid on Monday as a political attack orchestrated by Democrats while calling out the FBI and the US Department of Justice.
FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a statement on Thursday, saying that the “attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law.”
“Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,“ Wray added.-Bernama
