News Arizona Air Force base on alert for ‘suspicious activity,’ no shots firedBy Post Staff Report
September 16, 2011 | 7:04pm
TUCSON, Ariz. — An Arizona Air Force base remained on a “higher state of security” Friday due to what officials described as suspicious activity.
Base officials said earlier media reports of someone being shot on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., were not true.
“Reports of suspicious activity have caused D-M officials to declare a higher state of security. No shots have been fired and no one has been hurt,” officials said on the base’s Twitter account.
“Officials are currently investigating the situation, and more information will be forthcoming.”
Local authorities were put on high alert earlier Friday after news emerged that the base was on lockdown amid reports that a gunman was on the loose. Local broadcaster KVOA quoted people leaving the base as saying that one person had been shot multiple times by a civilian gunman. In addition, KMSB-TV said the Tucson Fire Department had confirmed one “patient” in the tense situation.
The reports appeared to be verified after ambulances and fire trucks were seen racing toward the base.
But on the base’s Facebook page, a post explained “currently, there is an ambulance leaving Davis-Monthan. It has nothing to do with the security situation. A member of our community is pregnant and she is being taken to the hospital.”
Officials did confirm, however, that a “security situation” remained.
Tech Sergeant J. Russell Martin told reporters that the situation began after there were “unconfirmed” reports that a man was spotted on the base with a weapon or something that looked like a weapon, leading officials to implement security procedures, including a lockdown of buildings on the base.
Two schools located on the base were included in the lockdown, but officials have repeatedly said that the children are safe.
Martin added that the person carrying the suspicious object was seen entering an old dormitory building on the base currently used for civil engineering training.
“Someone reported seeing something that ‘looked like a weapon’” Martin said, adding that no one has been detained.
“We’ll make sure we maintain a heightened level of security until everything is figured out,” he added.
Tucson police later closed a nearby gold course as a precautionary measure, according to KMSB. |
