An armed man decked out in body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio on Thursday, then fled and was injured in an exchange of gunfire in a standoff with law enforcement, authorities said.
The confrontation that began at the FBI’s Cincinnati field office came as officials warned of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Federal officials said the man “attempted to breach” the visitor’s screening area at the FBI office and fled when agents confronted him. He was chased onto Interstate 71, and a shot was fired from his car, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The suspect left the interstate north of Cincinnati and abandoned his car on nearby rural roads, where he exchanged gunfire with police. The man has “unknown injuries,” but no one else was hurt, the patrol said. The standoff remained in progress as of midafternoon Thursday.
Officials in Ohio have locked down a mile radius near the interstate and urged residents and business owners to lock doors and stay inside. The interstate has been reopened.
