“I’m disappointed that a traffic stop that was supposed to bring a peaceful resolution to this ended poorly,” an emotional Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said Wednesday. The various law-enforcement agencies involved developed “the best tactical plan they could to bring these guys down peacefully. It didn’t have to happen. We all make choices in life. Sometimes our choices go bad.”

Authorities say one other person, who is reported to be Ryan Bundy, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. In addition to Ammon and Ryan Bundy, those arrested on the highway include Shawna Cox, Ryan Waylen Payne, and Brian Cavalier. Peter Santilli and Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy were arrested later in Burns, while Jon Ritzheimer surrendered in Arizona. All of them face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats. The charge carries a fine or a maximum of six years in prison. Several have been booked into the Multnomah County jail in Portland.

The militia members represent a range of causes, but the central animating spirit of their protest is opposition to the federal government’s control of land in the western United States. The occupation was inspired by the conviction of Dwight and Steven Hammond for arson on federal land, though the Hammonds said they do not support the Bundy gang. The Bundys’ father, Cliven, conducted a lengthy standoff in Nevada with federal officials from the Bureau of Land Management in 2014, after Cliven Bundy refused to pay fees owed to the government for grazing his cattle on public land.

“Some of these folks have spent a lot of time in town, trying to stir some issues in the community,” a visibly emotional Ward said Wednesday. “If it was simple as waiting out some folks in some buildings, we could have waited a lot longer. But this has been tearing our community apart.”

Finicum, 55, had become a spokesman for the group occupying the refuge. He was also present for the 2014 Nevada standoff. Finicum had previously said he’d rather die than be arrested. “My dad was such a good good man, through and through," his daughter, Arianna Finicum Brown, told The Oregonian. “He would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved.” He was wanted by police. Although multiple sources, including family, have identified him as the deceased, police did not yet offer a confirmation Wednesday.

Finicum seemed to foretell the dramatic events on Tuesday during an interview on Monday. “They're doing all the things that shows that they want to take some kinetic action against us,” he said.

Ritzheimer had gained national attention for a pair of videos. In the first, he filmed himself explaining to his daughters why he was away for the holidays, saying, “Daddy swore an oath.” In a second, he complained about people sending sex toys to the refuge as a gag.