Report of active shooter at Joint Base Andrews a false alarm

Officials say reports of an active shooter at a military post outside Washington stemmed from someone who made a distress call after seeing security forces doing a routine inspection.

The confusion was heightened by a planned active shooter drill at Joint Base Andrews that had not yet begun and was planned for later in the morning.

The base said in a Facebook post Thursday that there was no shooter and no threat to the base or workers there.

The base had been placed on lockdown after an active shooter was reported.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he thought the response, real or fake, was solid.

"I think we need to pay attention to how to minimize the chances of false alarms," he said. "At the same time, I think it's important to have a reasonable level of awareness."

The base is home to Air Force One and is about 20 miles from Washington.

Associated Press