Joint Base Andrews on lockdown amid reports of an armed intruder

Joint Base Andrews was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon “after an armed individual was reported near base housing,” the base said in a news release. The base is just outside of Washington, D.C., in Maryland.

Joint Base Andrews is where the president loads and disembarks from Air Force One, although President Joe Biden did not travel and had no plans to travel on Thursday. Despite some earlier reports, the base clarified on Twitter that there is no active shooter threat. 

“There is not an active shooter as no shots have been fired,” Joint Base Andrews said in a statement. “There are no reported injuries or deaths.”

It’s not yet clear if anyone is in custody. 

Joint Base Andrews is home to the presidential fleet, and it’s where top government officials fly out for both domestic and international travel. It’s also where many kidnapped Americans, like the U.S. hostages in Iran in 1981, first stepped foot back on American soil. 

This wasn’t the first intruder to breach Joint Base Andrews grounds in recent years. 

In 2021, authorities took a man into custody who was accused of entering one of the planes on the base used by senior government officials, including the president. 

In February of this year, an intruder breached the base, and a resident opened fire on the trespasser. 

The history of Andrews Air Force Base extends back to the Civil War. But Andrews Air Force Base and the Naval Air Facility Washington became a joint base in October 2009 during the Obama administration. 

— Ellee Watson contributed to this report.