Forest Service workers freed after hostage standoff near Mount Shasta
Officials said two employees were zip-tied and held at gunpoint in a trailer for nearly 15 hours before negotiators secured their release.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
Two U.S. Forest Service employees were freed early Friday after officials said they were zip-tied and held at gunpoint inside a trailer in Northern California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest for nearly 15 hours.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said at a Friday news conference that the employees had been doing fieldwork when two armed people took them hostage early Thursday near Gumboot Lake, close to Mount Shasta.
The sheriff’s office got the first alert at 10:55 a.m., LaRue said, from a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer who reported that the two workers were bound and being held at gunpoint in the trailer.
Authorities identified the main suspect as Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49. LaRue said Henrichsen told authorities he had firearms and ammunition and wanted to speak with the FBI.
Deputies and the sheriff’s special response team were sent to the remote, rugged area around noon, LaRue said. Drones were also put in the air as officials tried to locate the trailer and assess the scene.
FBI teams called in
Brian Tosh, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Sacramento field office, said the agency was contacted at 12:20 p.m. The FBI sent agents from Redding, a crisis negotiation team, SWAT members, a hostage rescue team and resources from Quantico, Virginia, according to Tosh.
Just after 1 p.m., drones helped authorities spot the trailer where Henrichsen was believed to be, officials said. Local, state and federal teams then converged on the area.
Negotiations began around 4 p.m., LaRue said. The standoff stretched through the evening and into the next morning before the two employees were released.
Tosh said the first hostage walked out alone at about 1:50 a.m. Friday. The second came out roughly 15 minutes later.
Around 2:30 a.m., Joseph Henrichsen and his adult son, Phoenix Henrichsen, surrendered and exited the trailer, LaRue said.
Tosh said Joseph Henrichsen had an AR-15 at the time and claimed to have grenades. Officials did not say that any explosives were recovered.
Kidnapping charges expected
LaRue said Joseph Henrichsen was arrested on federal kidnapping charges. Eric Grant, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said his office will charge both men with kidnapping of a federal employee.
Officials did not identify the two Forest Service employees and did not say whether they were physically injured. Tosh said both were resting and would need time after the ordeal.
Investigators are still looking into a motive, officials said. LaRue said the men were not previously known to law enforcement, and authorities have not explained why Joseph Henrichsen allegedly asked to speak with the FBI.
Officials did not say whether either man had an attorney or had entered a response to the allegations.
Agencies that assisted included the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Land Management, the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, officials said.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.