The U.S. Navy Yard in Washington is under lockdown Thursday morning, after unconfirmed reports of a gunman in or near the facility.
The U.S. Navy tweeted that it could not yet confirm an incident but that orders had been given to employees to shelter in place.
#BREAKING: @NavalDistWashington Navy Yard on lockdown/shelter in place. No incident can be confirmed as of yet. More to follow.
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) July 2, 2015
#BREAKING: @CNICHQ @NavalDistWash #NavyYard lockdown/shelter in place. Investigation continues. No further info at this time.
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) July 2, 2015
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Park Police, one of many law enforcement agencies in Washington, had responded to reports of an active shooter and The Associated Press quoted Navy officials as saying there were reports that shots were fired and the facility was under lockdown.
A heavy police and fire department presence begins more than eight blocks away from the Navy Yard, located in southeast Washington, with roads blocked off and a helicopter hovering overhead.
VOA's Victoria Macchi is on the scene.
#voaalert no sign of active shooter on 2nd floor just came over the radio. Sounds like they%27re going floor by floor. pic.twitter.com/Atfu2pb9Al
— Victoria Macchi (@VMMacchi) July 2, 2015
Crisis negotiator suiting up in tactical gear and heading to the scene #NavyYard #voaalert pic.twitter.com/fDJfucPAwZ
— Victoria Macchi (@VMMacchi) July 2, 2015
From what I%27m hearing at the police line, scene definitely isn%27t cleared yet. #NavyYard #NavyYardShooting #voaalert
— Victoria Macchi (@VMMacchi) July 2, 2015
The Washington Navy Yard, the country's oldest naval installation, was the scene of a mass shooting in 2013 when Aaron Alexis, a lone gunman, killed 12 people. Alexis was a government contractor working at the facility.
Some material for this report came from AP.