Standoff in Arcola, Illinois, Comes to an End

An all day standoff at a local bank in Arcola, IL , a small town of 2,600, took place Thursday. Events began from a police pursuit that ended up in the rural farming community. Arcola is about 150 miles south of Chicago.

According to Associated Press, the hostage situation in the small town of Arcola, IL where a standoff started Thursday morning has now come to an end. After hours with the suspect and the FBI negotiator, the final hostage, Brad Pullen, 27, has been released. Brad Pullen was First Mid's bank manager. Brad is currently engaged with a three month old baby.

Before heading to Arcola, the two men had previously robbed a couple in the town of Camargo stealing possessions and also their van. When the suspect's van drove out of control after the high speed chase ended in Arcola, police pulled out the driver, Kareem Brown, 23, of Chicago, and arrested him. The passenger then ran into the bank and immediately took a hold of Brad's neck and held him at gunpoint after fleeing his vehicle. The passenger of the van, and suspect's name still has not been released. Other hostages who were in the bank were Brad Pullen's father and his grandfather. Both his father and grandfather has been there visiting Brad, when the standoff began. Brad's grandfather was the third of five hostages to be let go. The Associated Press stated that during the noon hours, two women who were employees of First Mid were let go. The fourth hostage to be released was then Brad's father.

After some breaking news from the Associated Press, finally after communications with the police and suspect, Brad Pullen was allowed to go at 6:35pm Central Time. During most of the day in Arcola, all train and Amtrak services were shut down and railroads were closed. Traffic was also shut down in Arcola as well. Roads were closed within a 3-4 block radius around First Mid Bank. Because of the stand-off, several trains had to be rerouted or canceled. Buses had to be used to haul passengers between Carbondale and Chicago.