Suspects Attempt Raid on FBI Office

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said troopers are still in a stand off with an armed subject who tried to gain entry to the Cincinnati field office of the FBI, officials said during a press conference.

Officials said they have the male suspect contained and a perimeter has been established, adding there’s currently no threat to the public.

Officials said the subject attempted to gain entrance to the field office around 9:15 a.m.

FBI contacted then contacted the highway patrol.

Near a northbound rest area on I-71, a trooper spotted the suspect’s vehicle, a white Ford Crown Victoria, and attempted to traffic stop shortly before 9:40 a.m.

Officials said the suspect continued to flee and came to a stop after reaching Smith Road. He then exchanged gunfire with law enforcement.

No officers were injured and there is still an active standoff, officials said.

Officials said they cannot currently identify the suspect or whether he’s suffered any injuries.

Previous reporting: The Clinton County Emergency Management Agency said law enforcement engaged in a firefight with a male in a gray shirt and body armor who fled from an area FBI field office.

In a tweet, the FBI said an armed subject attempted to breach the visitor screening facility at the bureau’s field office in Cincinnati at 2012 Ronald Reagan Drive in Sycamore Township.

After an alarm and response by special agents, the suspect fled north onto Interstate 71, the tweet states.

Thomas Breckle, director of Clinton County EMA, said his office received a report of troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol trying to stop an armed suspect driving a Crown Victoria.

Breckle said the chase entered Clinton County around 9:56 a.m.

Law enforcement traded gunfire with the suspect who was wearing body armor, Breckle said.

Clinton County Emergency Management issued a lockdown for all buildings within a one-mile radius of Smith and Center roads. People in that area are being told to lock their doors and remain inside.

Breckle said northbound and southbound I-71 was closed between US Route 68 and State Route 73, near Wilmington. Motorists were advised to detour using Wilmington Road, following Clarksville Road to US 22.

Although a possible motive for the breach has not been released, the incident comes a day after a day after the FBI director Christopher Wray warned of threats circulating online against agents and the Justice Department after the agency’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

What does Cincinnati’s FBI field office do?

The FBI’s field office in Cincinnati covers 48 counties throughout central and southern Ohio, including Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton and Warren counties, according to the bureau’s website.

The office oversees five satellite offices in Athens, Cambridge, Columbus, Dayton and Portsmouth.

Opened in 1913, the bureau’s headquarters in Cincinnati does counter-terrorism work and investigates white-collar crime, drug trafficking and child pornography, the website states.