Woman with gun taken into custody after standoff at FBI building in Seattle, authorities say

SEATTLE — A woman armed with a gun was taken into custody Wednesday after an hour-long standoff at the FBI building in Seattle, authorities said.

According to FBI spokesman Steve Bernd, the woman walked into a publicly accessible area where people have to wait to be brought into the lobby.

She pointed the gun at herself, Seattle police said in an emailed statement. A hostage negotiation team eventually persuaded her to put the gun at her feet and surrender.

No hostages were taken and no one was injured, authorities said.

The woman’s identity was not immediately released.

“We continue to investigate her motives and no charging decisions have been made,” the FBI said in an emailed statement.

The FBI has reported an increase in threats against agency personnel and facilities in recent years. A man armed with an AR-15 rifle and a nail gun tried to enter the FBI’s Cincinnati field office in 2022 and was killed hours later after a standoff with authorities.

And in August, a man rammed a barricade at an FBI office in Atlanta and then tried to follow an FBI employee on foot into the secure parking lot.