‘Active shooter’ Puts US Joint Base Andrews on Lockdown

An armed individual has been reported near base housing. Stay away from base housing. Initiate Lockdown Procedures.

Joint Base Andrews, located in Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington DC, housing US government aircraft fleet, including the presidential Air Force One, has been put into lockdown today after an ‘active shooter’ was reported near the installation’s housing units.

According to the Joint Base Andrews’ Facebook post, “an armed individual has been reported near base housing. Stay away from base housing. Initiate Lockdown Procedures. Individual is a white male, wearing a purple sweatshirt, black shorts, carrying a AR-15 style rifle with no orange tip.”

It was not immediately known whether there were any casualties at the base.

Shortly after announcing the lockdown, Joint Base Andrews urged the general public to call 911 ‘if you see any people out moving.’

The base’s Military Police, as well as foot and mobile security patrols are continuing the search for the suspect, JBA added in its statement.

Joint Base Andrews (JBA) is a United States military facility located in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 316th Wing, Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). The base was established in 2009, when Andrews Air Force Base and Naval Air Facility Washington were merged.

The base is named for Lieutenant General Frank Maxwell Andrews (1884–1943), former Commanding General of United States Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.

The base is widely known for serving as the home base of two Boeing VC-25 aircraft which have the call sign Air Force One while the President of the United States is on board.

The host at Andrews is the 316th Wing, assigned to the Air Force District of Washington, which is also headquartered at Andrews.

The 316th Wing is responsible for maintaining emergency reaction rotary-wing airlift and other National Capital Region contingency response capabilities critical to national security, and for organizing, training, equipping and deploying combat-ready forces for Air and Space Expeditionary Forces (AEFs).

Three other wings at Andrews are the reserve 459th Air Refueling Wing, Air National Guard’s 113th Wing and active duty 89th Airlift Wing.