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Texas Fugitives Gave Up Peacefully

Aired February 07, 2002 - 06:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You know, as we've been telling you all morning long, that arms standoff involving those Texas fugitives is now over.

It all went down about an hour ago in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and that's where CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us live with the latest -- anyone hurt, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, FBI investigators here in Oklahoma have spent most of the night negotiating with two of the escapees on a remote rural highway here in southern Oklahoma, just moments away from the Texas-Oklahoma border. It started everything last night at about ten until 10:00 last night here Central Time, when FBI authorities received a tip or some of their own surveillance information that showed that two of the escapees were using a pay phone at a convenience store here near Ardmore, Oklahoma. Two of the FBI authorities converged on the scene there, capturing two of those escapees.

Two of the other escapees remained inside the convenience store, holding the store's owner George Rest hostage. Those two, Curtis Gambill and Joshua Bagwell held the gentleman -- the 70-year-old man -- hostage for six and a half hours before they surrendered peacefully about a little over an hour ago to FBI authorities here in southern Oklahoma. And as we've mentioned, it's been -- they've been on the run for about a week and a half, when they escaped from a jail just north of Fort Worth in Texas about a week and a half ago.

So a peaceful ending to what has been a much heavily publicized case here in this area, as the search for these four escapees has now come to an end. Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Glad it all ended peacefully. Thank you, Ed Lavandera, reporting live for us from Ardmore, Oklahoma this morning.

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