US Joint Base Andrews, the military facility near Washington that is home to the president’s plane, was briefly placed on lockdown on Thursday amid what turned out to be erroneous reports of a gunman at large during a pre-planned exercise to test responses to an active shooter.
Base officials issued an all-clear message after about an hour for the base, where personnel had been told to shelter in place. A U.S. defense official said a second sweep was carried out at a medical facility out of “an abundance of caution.”
“Fortunately, this was not a life-threatening situation,” Colonel Brad Hoagland, 11th Wing and Joint Base Andrews commander, said in a statement. “We take all threats seriously and reacted to ensure the security of those on the base.”
The military installation had been scheduled to hold a “no-notice” active shooter exercise late on Thursday morning, base officials said on Twitter.
But, the officials said, there was a “misidentification” of a security forces emergency services team that was conducting a routine inspection of the Malcolm Grow Medical Facility, on the opposite side of the base.
