A bomb threat sent the U.S. military base where Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is located into lockdown on Wednesday, Fox News reported.
According to Fox, officials said a phone call came in “from an anonymous source stating there is a bomb at or near” Building 10. That building and “all gates to the base were” subsequently “closed to non-emergency traffic,” Fox said, citing a tweet from Naval Support Activity Bethesda.
Lockdown at Walter Reed
According to NBC Washington, the complex first locked down just before 9 a.m. The lockdown resulted in all appointments at Walter Reed being canceled for Wednesday.
An all-clear was issued by the NSAB by 2 p.m. local time Wednesday afternoon.
1327, 20OCT21: @NSABethesda has issued the ‘all clear’ from the base wide lockdown / shelter in place. WRNMMC is now resuming normal operations. All staff and beneficiaries are free to move about the hospital or installation as needed.
— Walter Reed Bethesda (@WRBethesda) October 20, 2021
NBC Washington said the incident was initially labeled an active shooter threat. But officials later said no evidence of that emerged.
The local NBC affiliate added in its report:
No information was immediately released on whether anything was found or who placed the call. An investigation is ongoing.
“Sheltered in place”
The incident also backed up traffic in the area surrounding the complex, with the emergency management office in Maryland’s Montgomery County issuing a statement warning of “severe backups” and urging drivers to “seek alternate routes,” according to NBC Washington.
A veteran who was at Walter Reed at the time of the lockdown described the situation to CNBC. Kai Hibbard said she “was about to drive off the base when ‘everything locked down,'” CNBC reported.
She learned of the lockdown via social media, she told the outlet.
“Loudspeakers announced that all personnel should get to the nearest building and shelter in place until the all clear is given,” Hibbard reportedly said. “My husband and I are safe, sheltered in place and just watched the (what I assume is) bomb dog and [its] handler go through the parking lot.”
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is known best as the hospital of choice for presidents including Donald Trump and Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials.
The post Reports: Bomb threat leads to lockdown at military base near DC first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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