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Oregon standoff: several arrested, one dead

January 27, 2016

Police in Oregon have arrested the leader of an armed occupation of a wildlife refuge and several of his associates. One person was killed in a shoot-out with the FBI.

https://p.dw.com/p/1HkQv
USA Oregon National Wildlife Refuge Besetzung
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/D. Killen

Authorities said that shots were fired late on Tuesday as they arrested members of an armed group that has occupied a national wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than three weeks.

One man was killed and at least one other was injured in the shooting on a highway before later being released from hospital.

The leader of the armed group, Ammon Bundy - along with his brother Ryan and three others - were picked up at a traffic stop on US Highway 395.

The FBI said another two people were arrested in a nearby town, while an eighth later surrendered to police in Arizona.

USA Oregon bewaffnete Rancher besetzen Haus in Naturschutzgebiet
Ammon BundyImage: picture alliance/AP Photo/L. Zaitz/The Oregonian

Those detained face charges of trying to impede authorities by way of "force, intimidation or threats."

Bundy's group, which has included people from as far away as Arizona and Michigan, seized the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2 as part of a long-running dispute over public lands in the West.

Bundy is the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a high-profile 2014 standoff with the US government over grazing rights.

A more than 80 kilometer (50-mile) stretch of highway in Oregon was closed on Tuesday evening around the time of the arrests.

Local media reported that a hospital in the nearby town of Burns had been placed in lockdown around the time of the arrests.

mm/jil (AP, Reuters)