United States Capitol Police urged everyone inside the United States Senate office buildings to shelter in place on Wednesday over a possible active shooter that was later confirmed as a false alarm.
“There is no active shooter and there are no injuries,” Hugh Carew, DC Metropolitan Police department spokesperson, told USA TODAY.
“Our officers are searching in and around the Senate Office Buildings in response to a concerning 911 call. Please stay away from the area as we are still investigating. We will continue to communicate with the public here,” Capitol Police tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
“If you are inside the Senate Buildings, everyone inside should be sheltering in place as the report was for a possible active shooter,” the agency added. “It should be noted that we do not have any confirmed reports of gunshots.”
According to Fox News reporter Adam Sabes, DC Fire and EMS said the situation “is likely a ‘mental health’ situation and not an active shooter.”
Insider reporter Bryan Metzger tweeted video of people being evacuated from the Russel Senate Office Building.
The false alarm comes amid heightened political tensions among Americans, triggered by the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
Trump – who is widely considered President Joe Biden’s top competitor in the 2024 presidential race – was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won,” the indictment states.
“These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false. But the Defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway — to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election,” it continues.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
