BURNS, Ore. -- Three more suspects linked to the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon surrendered Wednesday, hours after their jailed leader urged the handful of remaining militants to abandon the site they have occupied for more than three weeks.
After militant leader Ammon Bundy made his first court appearance in Portland on Wednesday, his attorney, Mike Arnold, read a statement from his client saying, "Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is now in the courts."
It was unclear whether the remnant of Bundy's followers still holed up at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge south of Burns was ready to heed his advice, but the additional arrests were made later Wednesday at a nearby checkpoint established by federal and state law enforcement officials, authorities said.
In a statement Wednesday night, the FBI and Oregon State Police said they had arrested 45-year-old Duane Leo Ehmer of Irrigon, Oregon, and 34-year-old Dylan Wade Anderson of Provo, Utah, around 3:30 p.m., and 43-year-old Jason S. Patrick of Bonaire, Georgia, several hours later.
The FBI said the men turned themselves in on a road near the refuge, adding that all three had been in contact with the agency since leaving the refuge earlier and that the arrests came without incident.
The FBI said in its statement late Wednesday that eight people had left the refuge since the checkpoints were set up in the early morning hours Wednesday and, "Of those, the FBI released five and arrested three.
As with Bundy and the seven others arrested a day earlier, officials said the three men will each face one federal felony count.
FBI officials also said they were working around the clock to empty the refuge of armed occupiers in the safest way possible.
The refuge remained surrounded by federal agents and checkpoints.
Meanwhile, conflicting details began to emerge about the confrontation Tuesday on a remote highway that resulted in the arrest of Bundy and other leading figures in the group of occupiers, and in the death of militant Robert Finicum.
A small candlelight vigil was held in Finicum's memory in Burns Wednesday night, CBS Portland, Oregon affiliate KOIN-TV says.
Bundy followers gave conflicting accounts of how Finicum died. One said Finicum charged at FBI agents, who then shot him. A member of the Bundy family said Finicum did nothing to provoke the agents.
An Oregon man who says he witnessed the shootout says he heard about a half-dozen shots but didn't see anyone get hit, and that the shooting happened quickly - over maybe 12 or 15 seconds. Raymond Doherty told KOIN he was about 100 feet back and couldn't see who specifically was shooting. But, he added, "I saw them shooting at each other."
There was no immediate way to confirm the accounts. Authorities refused to release any details about the encounter or even to verify that it was Finicum who was killed. But a federal law enforcement source confirmed to CBS News that it was Finicum.
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