A man who took hostages at a bank in rural Louisiana shot the two remaining hostages before being shot and killed by police, authorities said.
During negotiations with law enforcement late yesterday, the suspect identified as Fuaed Abdo Ahmed, who was believed to be in his 20s said he was going to kill the hostages, Louisiana State Police superintendent Col Mike Edmonson said.
State police then entered the building just before midnight yesterday.
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The hostages were both shot with a handgun, but Edmonson said Ahmed was also armed with a rifle.
The gunman initially took two women and a man captive about 12.30 pm local time yesterday at the Tensas State Bank branch in St Joseph. He later released one of the female hostages.
Edmonson said Ahmed was a paranoid schizophrenic and that the situation was not a bank robbery attempt but a planned attack.
"He was mad at people that he said were mean to him," Edmonson said. "He had voices in his head.