A lockdown at Andrews air force base has been lifted after a drill was confused with an actual shooting on Thursday morning, according to a statement published on the base’s Facebook page.
First responders gave an “all clear” less than two hours after the base first signaled that it was on lockdown, following reports of a gunman on the military campus that is home to Air Force One and emergency units in the Washington DC area.
“Joint Base Andrews was scheduled to conduct a no-notice active shooter exercise in the late morning on the opposite side of the base,” a spokesperson for the base wrote on Facebook.
“However, reports of a real-world active shooter situation at the medical facility were miscommunicated before the exercise was able to begin. There was a misidentification of the security forces emergency services team who were conducting a routine inspection of the medical facility, which caused the distress call to the base defense operations center.”
At 9.16am ET, a spokesperson for the base wrote on Twitter that Andrews was under lockdown due to reports of a gunman on the premises. Moments later it was reported that the incident was unfolding at the Malcolm Grow medical facility and that first responders had arrived on the scene.
All personnel were ordered to shelter in place shortly after 9am ET on Thursday. Law enforcement officials gave the “all clear” and lifted the lockdown at 10.40am.
“Fortunately, this was not a life-threatening situation,” Col Brad Hoagland, 11th Wing and JBA commander, said in a statement on Thursday. “We take all threats seriously and reacted to ensure the security of those on the base. I applaud the quick reaction of our first responders in keeping the safety of our JBA family a number one priority. In addition, we thank our local authorities for quickly standing by and offering their assistance.”
In an earlier post on Facebook, a spokesperson wrote that the facility had received “real-world” reports of danger around the time of the drill.
“The base was scheduled to conduct an active shooter exercise, however, reports of a real-world active shooter situation were reported at Malcolm Grow medical facility,” the post said.
“Due to the serious nature of this report, the base is reacting to ensure the safety of all personnel.”
Barack Obama landed at Joint Base Andrews at around 9pm on Wednesday after returning from a summit of North American leaders in Ottawa. The president stepped off Air Force One and a moment later stepped aboard Marine One to return to the White House, according to a pool report.
Vice-president Joe Biden was due to depart from Andrews on Thursday morning but his trip was delayed due to the lockdown. He was due in Columbus, Ohio, for a campaign event for US Senate candidate Ted Strickland.
