Navy Yard all clear after shooting scare; 911 call not ‘malicious hoax,’ says D.C. police chief

U.S. Capitol Police gave the all clear at the Washington Navy Yard around 10 a.m. after an emergency call was made earlier in the morning about possible shots f...

This story was last updated at 12:31 p.m.

U.S. Capitol Police gave the all clear at the Washington Navy Yard around 10 a.m. after an emergency call was made earlier in the morning about possible shots fired at the campus.

“There are no signs of a shooting, a shooter, or victims,” the Navy said in a statement. “All personnel are safe and accounted for.”

Authorities placed the campus on lockdown around 7:30 a.m. after a call was made from inside a building at the Navy Yard reporting possible gun shots.

“At this time, we have completed our search of the building and have found no evidence of a shooting or injured personnel,” D.C. police said in a statement sent at 10:10 a.m.

The scene has been turned back over to Vice Adm. Hunter Hilarides of the NavSea Command.

In a press conference with District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bower and Hilarides, D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier told reporters that officers interviewed the woman who first called 911  from inside the NavSea Command building.

“We don’t believe that it was a malicious hoax,” Lanier said, adding that the employee did “exactly what we ask” when reporting suspicious activity.

D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier (WTOP/Kristi King)
D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier (WTOP/Kristi King)

In 2013, the Navy Yard was the scene of a shooting in which 12 people were killed. Lanier said the police response to this morning’s investigation went smoothly.

“Every inch of that building has been searched, and will be searched a second time,” she said.

All road closures associated with this incident have been reopened, according to the District of Columbia’s AlertDC system.

Chris Johnson, a spokesman for the Navy Sea Systems Command, said there had been some limited evacuations of certain offices in the Navy Yard complex while police were investigating the incident.

WTOP’s Neal Augenstein reported that a friend of someone who works in the Navy Yard told him that the worker heard “several loud bangs and people screaming.” Navy Yard workers received automated texts saying that there was a threat and that they needed to shelter in place.

U.S. Marshals; the U.S. Park Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Metro Transit Police and D.C.police, including the hazardous devices unit and K9 units, responded to the scene .

Federal News Radio confirmed that Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling had also been placed in shelter-in-place mode.

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