US Forest Service employees zip-tied, held at gunpoint in California
By Olivia Hebert,
News Reporter
Updated July 17, 2026 2:57 p.m.
Courtesy of Brianne Stanley
LATEST July 17, 2 p.m. Two U.S. Forest Service employees were zip-tied and held at gunpoint inside a trailer in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest before negotiators secured their release early Friday and officers arrested two suspects, concluding a nearly 15-hour hostage crisis that drew an FBI team from Virginia and law enforcement officers from across Northern California.
The two Forest Service employees were conducting routine seasonal fieldwork Thursday when they were taken into a privately owned trailer, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said during a news conference. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office learned of the kidnapping around 10:55 a.m. after a Forest Service law enforcement officer reported that the employees were restrained and being held at gunpoint.
One of the suspects, Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, told authorities he had firearms and ammunition and wanted to speak with the FBI, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said.
Deputies and the sheriff’s special response team arrived around noon and quickly deployed drones over the remote Gumboot Lake area. By 1:03 p.m., authorities had identified the trailer where the hostages were being held.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-lake-hostage-standoff-22349514.php
