All Clear At Joint Base Andrews After 'Miscommunication' Over Active Shooter

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Joint Base Andrews was placed on a lockdown Thursday after reports of an active shooter.

According to officials, the base was scheduled to conduct an active shooter exercise, however, reports of a real-world active shooter situation were reported at Malcolm Grow medical facility.

"Reports of a real-world active shooter situation at the medical facility were miscommunicated before the exercise was able to begin," said Joint Base Andrews officials. "There was a misidentification of the security forces emergency services team who were conducting a routine inspection of the medical facility, which caused the distress call to the base defense operations center."

The base was placed on lockdown as a precaution around 9:00 a.m. Thursday. The base even sent out tweets telling people to shelter in place.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson even interrupted his testimony during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to address the threat.

"Fortunately, this was not a life-threatening situation," said Col. Brad Hoagland, 11th Wing and JBA commander. "We take all threats seriously and reacted to ensure the security of those on the base. I applaud the quick reaction of our first responders in keeping the safety of our JBA family a number one priority. In addition, we thank our local authorities for quickly standing by and offering their assistance."

An "all clear" was given for the entire base around 11:30 a.m.

Top officials, including White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest applauded the quick response to ensure everyone's safety.