Nov 30, 2007 9:15 pm US/Pacific
Clinton Thanks Cops, Staffers After Hostage Crisis
Suspect Surrenders To Police After Lengthy Standoff
Suspect Was Reportedly In Contact With CNN During Standoff
ROCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) ―
A tense, lengthy hostage situation at Hillary Rodham Clinton's Rochester, N.H. campaign office ended peacefully when the suspect walked calmly out the front door, lay down on the ground, and surrendered to police.
Shortly after releasing the last of at least four hostages, Leeland Eisenberg walked out of the storefront office, put down a homemade bomb-like package and was immediately surrounded by SWAT team with guns drawn.
The suspect - clad in gray slacks, white dress shirt and a red tie - was put on the ground, handcuffed and taken two blocks to the police office in the back of a tactical response vehicle.
At a late evening news conference, officials said Eisenberg is facing kidnapping, recklessing operation, and trespassing charges, adding that those charges may be changed as time goes by. As to motive, one official said "He went into this office for his own personal reasons," adding the matter was still under investigation.
Eisenberg's device was made of road flares and didn't appear to have any ability to detonate, officials said.
Eisenberg walked into the office shortly before 1 p.m. and took several hostages, police and witnesses said. He let a woman with an infant go immediately and at least one other woman got out about two hours later.
Seconds before he surrendered, shortly after 6 p.m., the last hostage walked from the office. The hostage then ran down the street toward the police roadblocks surrounding Clinton's office.
Officials acknowledged Eisenberg had a police record but didn't go into specifics.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said she's relieved the hostage standoff was resolved "so peacefully." Clinton thanked law enforcement officials for bringing the crisis to an end. "This was obviously a very difficult situation," Clinton said, adding that she met with the hostages and some of their families Friday night.
"I am very proud of them," Clinton said. "They handled themselves and the situation extraordinarily well."
She added she cooperated fully with law enforcement during the crisis, saying "I made it clear from the very first conversations that I had that I would take their direction."
"I'm extremely grateful to each and every one of them," she said at late Friday night.
Clinton added that to her knowledge neither she or her campaign had previously been in contact with Eisenberg, to her knowledge. "He appears to be someone in need of help who sought attention in absolutely the wrong way," she said. Clinton said that she will be returning to the campaign trail tomorrow in Iowa.
CNN reported that the suspect had made several calls to their newsroom throughout the afternoon. CNN reported that it sat on the information out of concern for the safety of the hostages. Eisenberg reportedly complained to the network about his difficulty getting treatment for mental health issues.
CBS station WBZ Radio's Lana Jones learned that the man's stepson reported to police that his stepfather had been drinking for two days. The son said his stepfather had strapped two road flares to his chest and told his son Friday morning that he was going to the Clinton campaign office. He reportedly told his stepson "to watch the news."
Witness Lettie Tzizik told television station WMUR of Manchester that she spoke to the woman who was released first and that she was crying, holding the infant.
"She said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape," Tzizik said.
Clinton was in the Washington area at the time, but the confrontation brought her campaign to a standstill just five weeks before the New Hampshire primary, one of the first tests of the presidential campaign season. She canceled all appearances, as did her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and the security around her was increased as a precaution.
The office, in a town of 30,000, is one of many Clinton has around New Hampshire. The campaign said the people taken hostage were volunteers for the campaign.
They believe the device strapped to the man's chest was made with road flares, not a bomb, the official said.
Eisenberg made local headlines in March when he held a news conference on the steps of Rochester City Hall to complain about a police policy of placing fliers in unlocked cars warning motorists to lock their doors.
"This is nothing more than a gimmick to get around the Constitution and go around in the middle of the night upon unsuspecting citizens in their own yard and search their vehicles," Eisenberg said.
Police, who said they were just trying to reduce theft from motor vehicles, changed the policy in response.
Clinton was scheduled to give an address at the Democratic National Committee meeting in Vienna, Va., Friday afternoon, but DNC Chairman Howard Dean announced from the podium that Clinton would not speak.
The small Clinton office is located in the New England community's downtown area in a strip of several storefronts, and has large glass windows with a campaign sign out front.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
