Wytheville Post Office

An armed man in a wheelchair took five hostages Wednesday at a post office in western Virginia, forcing officials to cordon off three blocks of a downtown filled with holiday shoppers. Local media reports say grenades have been found in the man’s vehicle parked outside the post office in Wytheville. Five people have been taken hostage in a post office in the US by a man in a wheelchair claiming to be carrying explosives, say reports.

The town mayor of Wytheville, Trent Crewe, told the Associated Press news agency the man had fired shots from the building but no injuries were reported.

Shots have been fired from the post office, according to people in the area. Police are at the scene and asking for people in a four block radius to evacuate the area. Police have cordoned off the scene and advised people to evacuate homes and businesses in the immediate area.

Local businesswoman Susan Holman told the Wytheville Enterprise newspaper police had warned the man had “enough explosives to take out the whole block”.

The shootings have been confirmed by a state police spokeswoman but there is no confirmation on whether the situation involves explosives or not. Shots were fired, but there were no reports of injuries. A customer that left the Post Office said the suspect is in a wheelchair and has C-4 explosives strapped to his wheel chair. A sheriff’s office employee has confirmed that grenades have been found in the suspects truck. the truck is red and has Marine Corps stickers on it.

The man made no demands other than to ask for a pizza, said Pete Rendina, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said authorities are negotiating with the suspect.

“It’s completely surrounded by police in every direction,” said town manager Wayne Sutherland, speaking from his office nearby.

“All I can see is blue lights,” he told AP.

A police hostage negotiator was reported to have been speaking to the man.

Deputy Keith Dunagan of the Wythe County Sherriff’s department has been in direct communication with the suspect on a cell phone. Also, the suspect is not making any demands and refuses to release his name to authorities.

According to police, the gunman has shot out of the post office. they suggest that surrounding buildings should lock their doors and evacuate their businesses if possible. Customers are being turned away by authorities and told to leave the area as well.

The Wythe County Community Hospital and Crilion New River Medical Center are on alert to receive possible trauma patients.

According to a witness, SWAT and police cars are surrounding the building.

The Wytheville Fire Department has set up a truck with lights to prepare for a long standoff into the night.

SWAT, Smyth County deputies, Whytheville police, state police, Wythe deputies and the game department are at the scene.

The sound of cascading sirens mixed with the sharp report of multiple gunshots Wednesday afternoon as an armed man, reportedly strapped with explosives, shut down Main Street and other roads surrounding the Wytheville Post Office.

According to police on the scene, the man had five hostages and five pounds of C-4, a common plastic explosive, strapped to his wheelchair. Officers on the scene were encouraging the man to contact a hostage negotiator through 911.

Postal worker Walt Korndorfer said there was at least one hostage in the builiding. Supervisor Margie Austin, he said, was unaccounted for. The post master, he said, was out of the building when the shooting started.

Korndorfer said he was in his office, to the side of the Main Street building, figuring out newspaper postage reports when he heard shots and a co-worker ran past. He followed suit, running from the building and down Main Street, where he helped police block and redirect taffic in the early moments of the standoff.

Town police had blocked off a three-block square perimeter as officers outside the post office crouched behind vehicles, rifles at the ready. Police were working with the fire department and other agencies to evacuate Main Street just before 3 p.m. By quarter till four, a bomb squad had arrived and Virginia State Police had a helicopter in the air, circling downtown Wytheville. 911 operators around 3:45 p.m. advised employees at nearby businesses to get out of the buildings surrounding the post office.

A customer who was leaving the post office as the gunman entered, said he was in a wheelchair and driving a red truck with Marine Corps stickers. She reported that he had fired at police and had hand grenades. A sheriff’s office employee confirmed that there were grenades on the man’s truck.

Three employees and two members of the public were believed to be inside the post office.

Virginia State Police sent in a SWAT team and a bomb technician. Police at the scene told the Wytheville Enterprise the man had what appeared to be five pounds of a common plastic explosive strapped to his chest. Geller would not confirm that.

“The officer told us the man had enough explosives to take out the whole block,” Holman told the Enterprise.

Mayor Trent Crewe told The Associated Press five hostages were in the building, including three employees and two customers.

Carlton Austin said his daughter, postal worker Margie Austin, was among the hostages. She managed to call a family friend around 4:30 p.m. and said she was fine. Later, her father said, family members were waiting to hear more.

“That’s all we can do,” he said.

Niki Oliver told the Enterprise that her brother, Jimmy Oliver, was one of the hostages and had been able to phone family members.

“We love you,” she yelled to him as his mother was speaking to him on the phone.

Niki Oliver said her brother went to the post office to mail a Christmas gift to his son.

Postal worker Walt Korndoerfer said he was in the post office when he heard shots and a co-worker ran past. He called police and then ran himself.

His wife, Christine Korndoerfer, said he called around 3:30 p.m. to tell her he had gotten out safely.

“My husband is not one to get upset,” she said. “When he called, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him so upset.”

Town manager Wayne Sutherland, speaking from his office four blocks from the scene, said dozens of officers had circled the freestanding, brick post office.

“It’s completely surrounded by police in every direction,” Sutherland said. “All I can see is blue lights.”

Rendina said the man was in a wheelchair and missing part of his leg, but he had no other information. Postal inspectors from Roanoke and Charleston, W.Va., were at the scene.

Sutherland said the streets of the town of 8,500 were filled with holiday shoppers.

“It’s Christmas and all the stores are busy,” he said.

Wytheville is the county seat of Wythe County, in southwest Virginia.

Chronologies

The situation began around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. According to Mayor Trent Crewe, three of the hostages are employees and no injuries have yet to be reported.

Around 4 p.m. a bomb squad arrived on scene along with a Va. state police helicopter.

At 4:30, the Wytheville Fire Department was readying for what could be a long night, getting a truck with lighting capability set up across from the post office, where the red truck with a camper top, it’s lights still on, sat in the drive through lane.

Smyth County deputies had joined Wytheville and State police, Wythe deputies and the game department.

Charlie Griffith, manager of post office operations in Bristol, declined to comment about the situation or the number of hostages when reached at his office late Wednesday. He is a former post master at the Wytheville Post Office.
“I have no comment at this time,” Griffith stated. “I don’t when we will.”

Ashley Roberts of WSLS reported that the Sheriff’s Office said the man claims to have one bomb inside the building and one outside. No demands have been made, she reported, and the sheriff’s office has been in contact with the FBI and bomb tech experts.
Updated 4:45 p.m.

Susan Holman, manager of the Wytheville ABC store across the street from the post office, said she was on her lunch break at around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday when a co-worker came to the back of the building. Her fellow employee, she said, told her a customer said a policeman wouldn’t let him leave the store.
“About 15 minutes later, the officer came back and told us to lock up and get in the back of the building,” Holman said. “About half an hour later, he came back and told us to evacuate the building.”
According to her, the officer told them there was a man in the post office with explosives. He also told her the suspect had taken five hostages and had fired shots.
“The officer told us the man had enough explosives to take out the whole block,” Holman added.
Not allowed to get their vehicles, the two women walked down the street to the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office. They were picked up by a relative and taken home.

Updated at 5:15 p.m.

A horde of law enforcement officers, including those from the FBI, have turned Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, which is within eyesight of the post office, into a command center. Police said they are working on a plan of action.
Businesses and homes in a three-block radius of the post office have been evacuated, they said.

Updated at 5:46 p.m.

Eric Deaton, chief executive officer of Wythe County Community Hospital, said he and others in hospital leadership positions have been meeting every half hour. He said the group has been in kept up to date by local law enforcement and emergency services workers.
The hospital, which recently completed an emergency room renovation, was on Code Green, Deaton said, meaning it was preparing for the potential for mass casualties or injuries. He said the hospital trains for situations such as the one that stretched into nightfall on Wednesday and responded according to plan. He said extra staff had been brought in and other staff would be staying on even after the 7 p.m. shift change. He said extra physicians had been called in, along with extra staff from the imaging department. Two surgeons and three other doctors are on standby, Deaton said.

Updated 6:36 p.m.

Media continues to pour into town, as outlets across the globe pick up the story. Around 6:30 p.m., a reporter near the police staging area said he caught movement inside the post office on two occasions. He said twice he saw a figure walking from right to left across the lighted main entrance, beyond a bank of stairs rising from Main Street. The Associated Press is reporting that the man has only demanded pizza thus far. The news agency said a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the man in a wheelchair was missing part of his leg. Postal inspectors from Roanoke and Charleston, W.Va., are at the scene.

Updated 6:49 p.m.

“We love you,” Niki Oliver yelled to her brother Jimmy Oliver who was on the phone with her mother.
According to Niki Oliver, her brother is one of the five hostages holed up inside the post office. He went there Wednesday afternoon to mail a Christmas gift to his son.
All of the hostages appear to be OK, Niki said, and her brother has called family members at least three times by cell phone.
The family doesn’t know what the hostage taker wants or who he is, Niki said.

Updated at 7:01 p.m.

Wytheville Mayor Trent Crewe, serving as public information officer for the gathered police and emergency workers, said there is not a lot of new information. He said a shelter has been set up at the fire departmernt for anyone concerned about their safety; however, he said there is no reason to anticipate anything hazardous would extend beyond the area already evacuated and cordoned off.

“Our prayers are with everyone involved,“ Crewe said. “Virtually every resource you can imagaine is at work on this,“ he said, making specific mention of the Red Cross.

Crewe said negotiations are under way but there is no word on the gunman’s demands or motive.

“The community will make it through this situation,“ the mayor said.

State Police Sgt. M.T. Conroy said that as of 6:30 p.m. the gunman had not been identified and police had no information as to his background.

Updated at 7:18 p.m.

Apparently the gunman inside the post office is ambulatory. Conroy said that the man had pushed the wheelchair into the building. Within the past hour, the sergeant said, food and drinks had been delivered to the folks inside the post office.

Conroy said there is no ID of the gunman that can be released. He asked anyone with information to call the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office at 223-6001.

Updated at 8:04 p.m.