WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and SportsUPDATE: Wytheville hostage speaks about the experience

UPDATE: Wytheville hostage speaks about the experience

11:53 a.m.    WYTHEVILLE, Va. (AP)   One of three hostages held in a Virginia post office for more than eight hours says he stayed calm by thinking of his family.

Jimmy Oliver tells The Associated Press he was at the Wytheville (WITH-ville) post office Wednesday to mail Christmas presents when a man came in and slammed what looked like a bomb on the counter.

Federal authorities have charged 53-year-old Warren Taylor of Tennessee with kidnapping. All three hostages were released unharmed and police say Taylor surrendered calmly.

Oliver says he bonded with Taylor by telling him about his military service. He says during the ordeal Taylor asked a negotiator for a pizza he shared with the hostages and asked for cigarettes for Oliver to smoke.

Oliver says Taylor told him he was angry because his son had died in Afghanistan and his truck was about to be repossessed.

10:55 a.m. Update - WYTHEVILLE, Va. (AP) -- An official says an alleged hostage-taker had no apparent anger toward the small-town Virginia post office where he is accused of holding three people for more than eight hours.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokesman Pete Rendina says he's still trying to figure out why the Wytheville post office was targeted. But he says the suspect definitely did not have a beef with the office or the postal service in general.

Warren "Gator" Taylor of Sullivan County, Tenn., was arraigned Thursday on kidnapping and other charges. Officials say he released the three hostages unharmed and surrendered without incident. Shots were fired but no one was hurt.

Wytheville is a town of about 8,500 in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

8:42 a.m. Update - WYTHEVILLE, Va. (AP) -- State police say a daylong standoff at a small-town Virginia post office has ended with three hostages being released and a suspect in custody.

Authorities late Wednesday ordered the suspect to let the hostages go and come out with his hands up.

Soon after, the four left the building in Wytheville, including a man in a wheelchair. State police Sgt. Michael Conroy says that man is the suspect.

Earlier, state police said the man holding the hostages had entered the building pushing a wheelchair.

Conroy says authorities believe all the hostages are out. Officers are still checking the building in western Virginia.

Shots were fired earlier, but there were no reports of injuries. Relatives say the hostages have been able to contact them by phone.

12:51 a.m. Update- Police in Wytheville confirmed the hostage suspect, Warren Taylor from Sullivan County Tennessee is in custody.

Taylor, also known as Gator, and the three hostages are all being interviewed by police at this time.

Taylor could face state and federal charges after a standoff that lasted nine hours at the Wytheville Post Office.

He did surrender to authorities and exited the post office in his wheel chair.

Police say this was "the best possible outcome we could hope for" and Wytheville Mayor Trent Crewe expressed extreme relief. 

The post office could remain closed for a few days as police continue their investigation.

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11:23 p.m. Update- WYTHEVILLE, Va. (AP) — Police: Daylong Wytheville Va. post office standoff over; 3 hostages out, suspect in custody.  

WYTHEVILLE, Va. (AP) — Police: Daylong small-town Va. post office standoff over; 3 hostages out, suspect in custody.WYTHEVILLE, Va. (AP) — Police: Daylong small-town Va. post office standoff over; 3 hostages out, suspect in custody.

Bluefield (WVVA) – A spokesperson for Wythe County Community Hospital has confirmed with WVVA News that no victims have been brought to the facility in relation to the post office hostage situation.

According to Eric Deaton with the Wytheville hospital, despite confirmation of shots fired, no victims have been transported to the hospital in association with the incident. That report came in to WVVA at 4:35 p.m.

Virginia State Police have a SWAT team and bomb technician on hand in response to the hostage situation at the post office in Wytheville, Virginia.

According to Wytheville Town Police, a suspect is holding five victims hostage, including three employees and two customers, inside the Wytheville Post Office on Main Street.

Police have cleared a two block radius surrounding the post office due to reports of possible explosives in the building.

Mayor Trent Crewe says shots have been fired, but no injuries have been reported.

The suspect has not been identified. The incident began around 2:30 p.m. this afternoon.

WVVA News has a crew in route to the location in Wytheville. We will bring updates to this story as facts are released from authorities.

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