Police and emergency personnel stand near the Russell Senate Office Constructing in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2023, after unconfirmed reports of an energetic shooter within the constructing near the US Capitol.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Capitol Police reopened a Senate office constructing Wednesday after sweeping the world and finding “no suspicious activity or individuals of interest,” the House Sergeant at Arms said in a press release.
The order got here after the Metropolitan Police Department told CNBC that a report of an energetic shooter at a Senate office constructing “appears to be a nasty call.”
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger at a press conference later Wednesday appeared to agree. “This may increasingly have been a bogus call,” he said.
The U.S. Capitol Police issued a shelter-in-place order before 3 p.m. for people inside Senate office buildings while its officers responded to a report of a possible energetic shooter.
The USCP had tweeted that its officers were searching in and around those buildings “in response to a concerning 911 call.” The department noted on the time that it had not confirmed reports of gunshots.
U.S. Senate staff members evacuate under police supervision after an unconfirmed report of an energetic shooter spurred a lockdown in office buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, August 2, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
NBC News reported people being evacuated from the Russell Senate Office Constructing, one in all the three Senate buildings along Structure Avenue, around 3 p.m.
The USCP’s shelter-in-place order was still energetic, Manger said around 4 p.m., though people contained in the buildings are being allowed out in the event that they ask to depart.
“We have found nothing concerning” thus far, he said.
The unique call to the MPD concerning the energetic shooter had police looking out for a “heavyset Hispanic male wearing body armor,” Manger said. The caller claimed that the energetic shooter situation was in Hart Senate Office Constructing.
But nobody has since reported seeing anything, based on the police chief, and the number from the unique caller “just bounces back.”
People walk out of the Russell Senate Office Constructing with their hands within the air in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2023, after unconfirmed reports of an energetic shooter within the constructing near the US Capitol.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
The USCP tweeted at 4:04 p.m.: “All buildings have been cleared presently. The buildings haven’t been reopened.”
The MPD said it was assisting the Capitol Police.
The House and Senate are each in recess until September.
