The Latest: 911 calls led to military post lockdown
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Latest on reports of an active shooter at an Alabama military post (all times local):
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4 p.m.
The commander of an Alabama military post says two 911 calls about a potential active shooter prompted a lockdown at the installation but no shooter was ever found and no shots were fired.
Col. Tom Holliday, the garrison commander at Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, said Tuesday afternoon that the 911 calls came from a building on the installation. He says the lockdown worked as planned and believes that the military post did not overreact.
He says there will be an investigation and officials are looking into the possibility of a hoax.
An active shooter drill planned for Wednesday will not be held.
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12:45 p.m.
A lockdown has been lifted at an Alabama military installation, though officials say they are still investigating a possible active shooter incident there.
Christopher Colster, a spokesman for Redstone Arsenal in Hunstville, said Tuesday that officials do not believe there is an ongoing threat. No injuries or arrests have been reported.
Colster says a training exercise was ongoing that was supposed to end Wednesday. Officials had said on Facebook that an active shooter training exercise was planned for this week. But Colster would not say whether the active shooter report was part of that exercise, adding: “I really can’t say at this point what happened. I’m not sure myself.”
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11:30 a.m.
The governor’s office says Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is being updated about a lockdown by an official at Redstone Arsenal, but the official couldn’t provide any details.
Ivey issued a statement Tuesday saying, “My office is aware of the developing situation at Redstone Arsenal, and we are monitoring it closely. I am praying for a swift resolution to this matter.”
The base was placed on lockdown amid reports of a possible active shooter. A base spokesman says there are no confirmed reports of casualties.
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11:25 a.m.
A north Alabama military post said in a tweet it was on lockdown Tuesday amid reports of possible active shooter, telling workers to “run hide fight.”
Redstone Arsenal received reports of a person possibly armed with a weapon at a building on the base, spokesman Christopher Colster told WAFF-TV in a live broadcast.
Colster said there were no confirmed casualties, and officials hoped workers could return to normal activities within a couple of hours.
A safety drill was planned for Wednesday, but Colster said the report of a shooter was not part of any exercise.
More than 30,000 government employees, civilians and contractors work daily at Redstone, which adjoins the city of Huntsville and is home to Army missile defense programs and other military offices. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which oversees rocket propulsion operations, also is located at Redstone.
