Joint Base Andrews, located in suburban Maryland near Washington, D.C., was placed on lockdown Thursday morning after reports of an active shooter, with instructions for all personnel to “shelter in place.”
The Hill noted Twitter traffic from Joint Air Base Andrews shortly after 9:00 AM Eastern time, relaying the lockdown instructions and indicating that an incident was “ongoing at the Malcolm Grow Medical Facility,” with first responders on the scene.
According to NBC News, an active-shooter training exercise was scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM this morning. Evidently a real situation occurred at the medical facility shortly after the exercise began.
As of 10:00 AM Eastern time, there was no indication the Tweets from Joint Base Andrews were merely part of the training simulation. On the contrary, an Air Force spokesman told CBS News, “It’s real.”
“The Pentagon said there was a ‘barricade situation’ on the third floor of Building 1060 and that the base was locked down as the situation was unfolding,” Stars & Stripes reported.
Update: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, currently testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, confirmed the “unfolding situation” and noted he may have to leave the hearing for updates as the situation develops.
Update: A local news station Tweeted out a statement from Prince George’s County police and fire departments saying the incident was just a drill, but a number of responses to this message swiftly criticized it as inaccurate. It’s possible some local authorities were aware of the scheduled drill, and have not yet heard the reports that a real situation developed during it.
Update: New reports clarify the confused situation by indicating there was a serious report of a real active-shooter situation, but it was evidently a false alarm:
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