A gunman took three people hostage on Tuesday at a bank in rural St Joseph, Louisiana and a state police negotiator was brought in to talk to the man, authorities said, as reported by the Huffington Post. The standoff, which began on Tuesday afternoon at the Tensas State Bank. The hostage taker has been armed with some type of automatic weapon, according to Colonel Mike Edmonson, who is the head of the Louisiana State Police.
Two women and one man are the hostages.
It is yet to be determined whether the three hostages were bank employees or if any customers were inside. It is believed that a nearby convenience store has been evacuated, news reports said.
St. Joseph is a town of nearly 1,200 people and nearly one-third of the parish's 5,000 residents live under the federal poverty level, according to U.S. Census figures. There are reportedly dozens of first responders, including paramedics and heavily armed men in camouflage, on the scene, Fox News reported.
There is one suspect with a handgun, believed to be an employee at a local convenience store. Bomb squads are nearby with negotiators at the scene.
"Let the people go. Don't harm anyone," Tensas Parish Homeland Security Spokesman Jane Metterville said on CNN
