Officials said that an armed teenager was arrested at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after an apparent breach of the grounds just before Vice President Kamala Harir was there Sunday night.
Joint Base Andrews stated that the suspect, aged 17 , was one of two passengers in a vehicle which drove through a checkpoint to continue to the main gate. There, the pair ignored orders and fled.
The incident occurred at 9:59 p.m. Authorities concluded that the “base intruder” had left the facility and that a search was launched for the second suspect. Officials claimed that the vehicle in which the pair were riding had been taken.
Officials stated that the facility was placed under lockdown after members of the 316th Security Forces Group searched it.
According to Joint Base Andrews, the main gate of Joint Base Andrews was reopened at full capacity Monday morning, six hours after it had been closed.
Harris was returning from Selma in Alabama, where she had helped to mark 57 years of the “Bloody Sunday” police crackdown against civil rights protesters at Edmund Pettus Bridge.
According to Harris’ office, Harris was also joined by Marcia Fudge (Housing and Urban Development Secretary), Pete Buttigieg (Transportation Secretary), Miguel Cardona (Education Secretary), Michael Regan (Environmental Protection Agency Administrator) and Donald Remy (Deputy Veteran Affairs Secretary).
Harris was already gone when the security situation developed, but journalists who were traveling with Harris were stopped in vans during the lockdown to wait for security personnel to clear the area.
“I am extremely proud of the swift actions taken by our Defenders to deploy barriers to stop the vehicle being stolen last night and to then capture one person with a weapon.” Col. Tyler Schaff (316th Wing, Joint Base Andrews installation commander) said that the Defenders dealt with the situation calmly and professionally.
The incident was also investigated by the Prince George’s County Police and Maryland State Police. This incident is still under investigation.
Joint Base Andrews houses the president’s fixedwing operations. It also hosts Air Force One, the aircraft that the president uses when he is aboard.
