Osama Bin Laden is dead, President Obama announced Sunday night, in a televised address to the nation. The U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press late Sunday.

The announcement that Obama would speak came at 9:45 p.m., less than an hour before Obama was initially scheduled to go on the air. The unusual hour, and the fact that the White House gave no details about the topic, set off a flurry of speculation.

Two senior counterterrorism officials confirmed to the Associated Press that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last week. One said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation, not by a Predator drone. Both said the operation was based on U.S. intelligence, and both said the U.S. is in possession of bin Laden’s body.

Officials long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

UPDATE:
Three men were also killed in the helicopter raid, including one of bin Laden’s sons, whom officials did not name. The raid at the compound in northern Pakistan is reported to have lasted 40 minutes with suggestions a US helicopter was also downed in the firefight. Read More Along with Pictures