WASHINGTON − The Capitol Police swarmed Senate buildings Wednesday afternoon and advised people inside to shelter in place because of a report about a possible active shooter before later determining there had been no shooter and the report was false.
“There is no active shooter and there are no injuries,” Hugh Carew, spokesperson for Washington Metropolitan Police Department told USA TODAY.
The Capitol Police, in a statement at 2:45 p.m. ET, advised everyone inside the Russell Senate Office Building and other Senate offices to stay inside as they investigated the buildings in response to “a concerning 911 call.”
“Please stay away from the area as we are still investigating,” the Capitol Police statement read. “If you are inside the Senate Buildings, everyone inside should be sheltering in place as the report was for a possible active shooter.”
But Carew later said those reports came from a “bad call” to Washington police made at about 2:30 p.m. ET alerting them to a suspected shooter at the Hart Senate Office Building. The call was followed by additional 911 calls from Senate staffers who said they heard about an active shooter, which police believe was likely the result of rumors spreading from the original phone call.
About 200 police officers searched floor to floor inside the Senate office buildings. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said the individual who made the false 911 call told authorities to look for a suspect wearing body armor. No such person was identified.
“We found nothing concerning,” Manger said. “We’ve got nobody that actually heard shots and certainly no victims.”
All three Senate office buildings were cleared shortly before 4:15 p.m. ET, about 1 hour and 30 minutes after the shelter-in-place order.
Before the 911 call was ruled a false alarm, Senate staff members and media who work at the Senate office buildings received an internal security alert warning them to move inside their office, take emergency equipment and visitors and to “close, lock and stay away from external doors and windows.” The alert advised for them to remain quiet and silence electronics.
Jim Cunningham, an energy consultant, told USA TODAY he was entering the Russell Senate Building to meet with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s staff when he heard a loud noise and look behind.“There was about 20 police with guns drawn and running down behind us.”
Each of the entrances at the three Senate buildings are manned by police officers who conduct security screenings.
“It would would have been unusual for anybody to be able to get in,” Manger said, but added that officers had to work under the assumption that a suspect could have entered. “We had no indication from all the entry points that we staff that anybody came in.”
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