Lockdown lifted at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa following active shooter reports
MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa was briefly placed on lockdown Friday after officials were notified of a potential “armed suspect” near one of the gates, according to reports.
“There is no active shooter on MacDill,” the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office confirmed shortly before 8 a.m. Friday.
The base went on lockdown for almost an hour after a potential “armed suspect” was spotted near the Tanker Way gate area of the base, according to Military Times. It’s still unclear if the suspect was found and arrested.
Andrew Learned, a candidate for the Florida Legislature, tweeted about the lockdown around 7 a.m. Friday.
“Just got an alert while here at MacDill for an Active Shooter. We’re in lockdown. Be safe,” Learned tweeted.
MacDill employs more than 15,000 people and is the headquarters for U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command, according to WTSP.
The precautionary lockdown comes a month after there were two shootings at a U.S. naval base. An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola on Dec. 6, killing three sailors and injuring two sheriff’s deputies before he was killed by law enforcement, according to the Associated Press.
A few days before the Pensacola base shooting, a sailor shot three civilian employees at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing two before taking his own life.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 8:10 AM.
