2 Forest Service employees released after being taken hostage in Shasta-Trinity National Forest

[SouthBayDem]

Source: North State Public Radio

Two U.S. Forest Service employees were safe early Friday morning after being taken hostage while working on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the agency told NSPR.

The employees were doing “field work” in the forest when they were taken, and the agency first learned about the incident about 11 a.m. Thursday, Tom Stokesberry, a spokesperson for the agency, said in an email.

A Forest Service law enforcement officer took the initial call, Stokesberry said.

“We are relieved and grateful,” he said. “Our focus is the well-being of our two employees and their families. Out of respect for their privacy, we will not release identifying details.”

Read more: https://www.mynspr.org/news/2026-07-17/2-forest-service-employees-released-after-being-taken-hostage-in-shasta-trinity-national-forest

[Blues Heron]

1. homegrown right wing terrorism probably, so no penalty

[William Seger]

2. No significant details in the article

Many details around the incident remained unclear Friday morning, including a timeline of events, suspect information and possible motivation.

[chowder66]

5. Here's more info...

The armed kidnapper was later identified as 49-year-old Joseph Charles Henrichsen.

The USFS first received a call just before 11 a.m. Thursday reporting that a man had zip-tied two Forest Service employees and was holding them at gunpoint inside a trailer at Gumboot Lake. LaRue said Joseph had indicated that he had firearms and ammunition and wanted to speak with the FBI.

Authorities said Henrichsen and his adult son, Phoenix, surrendered at about 2:30 a.m. Federal investigators said the motive remains under investigation.

more at link...
https://krcrtv.com/news/local/2-forest-service-hostages-in-shasta-trinity-standoff-released-2-suspects-arrested

[Skittles]

9. how terrifying

glad they are OK

[AZ8theist]

10. Sounds like the FS guys stumbled upon some tweekers making drugs.

[Cheezoholic]

3. Antifa radical left wing terrorists in our great Forests so I'm declaring a national emergency in 3,2,1... 0: n/t

[JoseBalow]

4. Probably stumbled onto someone's guerrilla grow

Many are run by Mexican cartels. Some have lethal booby-traps and/or armed guards around them. That's why you never stray off-trail in remote areas during grow season.

[dexdah]

6. Gumboot Lake

National Forest campground just below the Pacific Crest Trail about 20 miles West of the Town of Mt Shasta. Beautiful alpine area. Plenty of Maga in Shasta county, but these boys probably overstayed their welcome in the campground.

[SouthBayDem]

7. Shasta County voters recently said "enough"

...the results of the June 2 primary tilt the county’s most powerful body back to the center-right — ending a five-year MAGA experiment and signaling trouble for President Donald Trump in one of California’s Trumpiest strongholds.

“People have seen the result of a MAGA-led government, whether it’s on a national level or a local level,” said Mary Rickert, a lifelong Republican who served two terms on the Board of Supervisors before losing to a Trump-aligned challenger in 2024. “They are seeing the consequences of putting people in positions they are not qualified (for).”

(San Francisco Chronicle last month)

[NBachers]

8. Plenty of details here. It wasn't a grow site; it was some maladjusted crackpot who wanted to talk to the FBI.

I interpret it as an even more-disturbed Lame-on Bundy type, but there aren't many details about what their bellyache was.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-lake-hostage-standoff-22349514.php