'All clear' at Navy Yard; no sign of shooter

Show Caption Hide Caption Reports: No shots fired, no injuries at Navy Yard Officials in the Washington area are now reporting that there was never an active shooter at the Navy Yard. It was placed on lockdown Thursday following an unconfirmed report of a shooter.

WASHINGTON — Police and federal officers responded with a massive show of force Thursday to a report of a possible shooter at the Navy Yard, but found no evidence of a gunman or a shooting, authorities said.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said a Navy Yard employee had reported internally around 7:29 a.m. that "she may have heard gunshots in the facility."

The call was relayed to the Metropolitan police, who responded along with the U.S. Park Police, U.S. Marshals, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI and others.

Police chief Cathy Lanier said a sweep of the Navy Yard showed "no signs of a shooter, no shooting and no injured," She said it was not clear what provoked the original call but that authorities do not believe it was a hoax.

Authorities said the quick response was the result of exercises conducted among various agencies following an incident in 2013 when a lone gunman inside the Navy Yard killed 12 people before he was fatally shot by police.

An after-action report at the time showed problems in communication between security agencies and difficulty gaining access to the Navy Yard, which is located less than a mile south of the U.S. Capitol.

"It appears that all the things that we tried to correct from the last incident went very, very well, very smooth and (resulted in) very well-coordinated response here," Lanier said.

Lt. Commander Scott Williams, chief engineer for the Navy's guided missile program, said earlier that his building at Navy Yard was evacuated around 7:30 a.m. He said he heard someone screaming.

Police "came to the door and escorted us out of the building," he said. Williams recently moved back into Building 197, which was the scene of the attack two years ago.

"It was kind of surreal being back in there, but we figured we could get back to normal, back to our job, back to building ships," Williams said outside a police barricade near Navy Yard with a helicopter patrolling overhead. "And here we are again."

Williams said officials had taken several precautionary measures since the previous attack to beef up safety, including alarm systems and random bag checks.

"I'm not necessarily saying I feel unsafe but it's concerning that these things can happen on base," he said.

Scott Corsano, a Navy contractor, works in Building 197, where he said someone reported a shooter near the entrance.

He said someone started yelling for everyone to go into lockdown after the report.

Corsano, who works on the third floor, said he never heard gunshots. He said they were in lockdown for about 45 minutes.

"I wasn't too worried about it," he said. "I was just waiting to see what it was going to be."

U.S. Park Police, U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security officers quickly responded to the scene and local roads were closed.

The Navy yard is located on the Anacostia River, south of the National Mall. The nearby Department of Transportation building also was placed on lockdown as a precaution.

The Washington Navy Yard is a ceremonial and administrative site for the U.S. Navy. The Yard also houses the Chief of Naval Operations and serves as the headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, the Department of Naval History and several other naval facilities.

Established in 1799, the Yard is the oldest shore establishment for the U.S. Navy.

Contributing: Tyler Pager in Washington