Authorities on Thursday morning gave the "all clear" at the Washington Navy Yard, which was placed on lockdown following an initial report that gunshots were fired. Two security sweeps of the Navy Yard and its facilities found no evidence of a shooting.
"At this time, there is no evidence of gunshots, there is no evidence of a shooter, and there is no evidence of any victims," Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press briefing later in the morning. U.S. Navy Admiral Dixon Smith said the lockdown was still in effect as officials do a final, precautionary walk-through, but that the Navy Yard should re-open around 11:30 a.m.
Officials said the initial report of a possible shooting came at 7:29 a.m. from an employee inside Building 197 who said she heard what sounded like gunshots.
As a result, around 8 a.m., police, U.S. marshals, the FBI, helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene -- the same location where a lone gunman shot and killed 12 people in September 2013 before he was fatally shot by police. Roads nearby were consequently closed, buildings close to the Navy Yard had to be evacuated and security was briefly increased near the White House.
After the all clear was given, police started to pull back their massive presence in the nation's capital.