A father and son from Northern California are expected to be charged with kidnapping federal employees after two U.S. Forest Service workers were held captive at gunpoint inside a trailer near Mt. Shasta.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz confirmed the two employees were carrying out routine field operations in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest when they were seized on Thursday. After being held for over 12 hours near Gunboot Lake, they were freed in the early hours of Friday morning.
“I want to say how profoundly grateful and relieved that we are, that our two employees were released safely. Their well-being continues to be our highest priority,” Schultz said.
The 49-year-old suspect and his adult son gave themselves up around 2:30 a.m. Friday, walking out of the trailer with an assault rifle and knives in hand. The father also claimed to authorities that he was in possession of grenades.
Deputies from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the remote location around noon Thursday and quickly deployed drones to help track down the trailer. They also called in additional law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to assist with the standoff.
FBI Sacramento Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Tosh said the outcome could have been far worse.
“Crisis situations like this don’t often result in everyone leaving the scene safely,” Tosh said.
U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced plans to charge both men with kidnapping federal employees. As of Saturday afternoon, however, no formal charges had yet appeared in online court records.
