A military base in Maryland where Vice President Kamala Harris and other top U.S. officials made a brief stop was placed on lockdown Sunday evening due to a security breach. Early reports spoke of an active shooter situation, though later, it was reported there was an “armed individual” and no shots were fired.
Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, safely departed Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County on Marine Two after returning to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area from a trip to Selma, Alabama, for a “Bloody Sunday” anniversary event, NPR’s Scott Detrow, the press pool reporter for the vice president, said in a tweet Sunday just after 9 p.m.
Harris and Emhoff headed back to their residence at the Naval Observatory. Some Cabinet members, who were also at the base after joining Harris on the flight from Selma on Air Force Two, have also been safely taken off the base.
Joint Base Andrews released a statement around 11:15 p.m. confirming a vehicle with two occupants blew past a security checkpoint, after which it was stopped and two individuals fled. One individual, who had a weapon, was apprehended, and the other was said to remain at large.
“At approximately 9 p.m. today, one vehicle drove through the security checkpoint and failed to adhere to commands of security personnel at the Main Gate on Joint Base Andrews, Maryland,” the statement said. “The 316th Security Forces Group immediately deployed the barriers and stopped the vehicle. Two individuals fled the vehicle, and one was apprehended by 316th SFG. One individual remains at large. We can confirm that the individual who was apprehended had a weapon, but no shots have been fired. There is not an active shooter situation at Joint Base Andrews; however, the intruder’s whereabouts are currently unknown.”
In an updated statement released Monday morning, Joint Base Andrews said that at approximately 3 a.m., the main gate at Joint Base Andrews had reopened to full capacity after “the 316th Security Forces Group and local authorities concluded a full sweep of Joint Base Andrews Monday morning and found confirmatory evidence that the base intruder on the loose had departed the installation.” The statement also identified the apprehended individual as a 17-year-old male.
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Earlier, Detrow reported he was told the base was on lockdown “due to reports of an active shooter.” Detrow said in another tweet, “Guards stopped the shuttle reporters take from the terminal. They had rifles out and searched our van.”
I have no information other than this, but I am told JBA is on lockdown right now due to reports of an active shooter. Another reporter and I are in a shuttle van that is being held due to situation.
The VP had already left base on Marine 2.
— Scott Detrow (@scottdetrow) March 7, 2022
“No sirens for awhile, but many police cars driving slowly around the base. Still no clear big picture information on what’s happening,” Detrow added in another tweet.
The Cabinet members included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, and EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
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A White House official said all Cabinet members were safe and off base, which was still locked down just after 9:30 p.m., according to the Associated Press.
“A guard who searched our shuttle told us it is a confirmed ‘armed individual’ but that no shots were fired,” the press pool reporter said in an update.
Officer at gate telling cars that only OSI (Office of Special Investigations) and emergency personnel are being let in.
*Lockdown currently after reports of armed individual on base
*NO reports of shots fired @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/z8e0iA6BVR— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) March 7, 2022
Around the same time as the incident, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden flew on Marine One to the White House from Delaware, where they spent much of the weekend.
