UPDATE : Man claiming to have explosives taken into custody
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UPDATE
VIRGINIA — The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office has taken the man who claimed to have explosives into custody.
KPVI reports the man from New Mexico was apprehended safely and they are taking him to a hospital.
The Sheriff’s Office is not yet releasing the man’s name at this time, giving them a chance to contact his family.
No one was injured in the incident.
UPDATE
VIRGINIA — The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office says the man engaged in a rural standoff with officers is likely from out-of-state and may have explosives.
Sheriff Lorin Nielsen told EastIdahoNews.com deputies found an abandoned car with New Mexico plates near the area where the man barricaded himself near a pump house. The car belongs to a man with a criminal history and on probation. Nielsen said they are not releasing his name at this time.
A 911 call came in around 9 a.m. this morning from a farmer who found the man wandering through his fields. When the farmer approached the man he realized he had a handgun and a black duffle bag that the man claimed contained explosives.
A deputy rushed to the area and spoke with the man who initially put down the handgun, according to Nielsen.
Nielsen said the man then became convinced the deputy was there to shoot him.
He picked up the handgun and ran away firing a single shot. Eventually, deputies heard two other shots but it remains unclear what he was shooting at. No one has been injured.
Negotiators are preparing to speak to the man again and convince him to surrender.
ORIGINAL STORY
VIRGINIA — The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies are involved in a standoff with a man in rural Bannock County.
Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said a man wandering around Virginia, a small unincorporated community north of Downey, barricaded himself in a pump house off Richards Road Thursday morning. At some point, the man fired a gun.
“No one knows who he is,” Nielsen said.
Law enforcement discovered an abandoned car near the area and hope it can identify the person inside the pump house.
Negotiators are en route to begin speaking with the man and no one has been injured, according to Nielsen.
EastIdahoNews.com will update this story as more information becomes available.