An armed teenager was apprehended at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, following an apparent breach of the grounds shortly before Vice President Kamala Harris was there Sunday night, officials said.
The suspect, 17, was one of two people in a vehicle that drove through a checkpoint and continued to the base main gate, where the pair disregarded orders and fled, Joint Base Andrews said in a statement.
The incident took place at 9 p.m. A search for the second person was concluded Monday morning after authorities determined the "base intruder on the loose had departed the installation." The vehicle the pair was in had been stolen, officials said.
The facility had been placed on lockdown as members of the 316th Security Forces Group searched the grounds, officials said.
The main gate at Joint Base Andrews reopened to full capacity at 3 a.m. Monday, about six hours after its initial closure, according to Joint Base Andrews.
Harris had returned from Selma, Alabama, where she helped mark 57 years since the "Bloody Sunday" police crackdown on civil rights protesters at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Also with Harris were Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Deputy Veteran Affairs Secretary Donald Remy, according to her office.
Harris was gone by the time the security situation unfolded, but journalists traveling with her were halted in vans during the lockdown and made to wait while security members cleared the scene.
“I am incredibly proud of the quick actions of our Defenders to immediately deploy the barriers to stop last night’s stolen vehicle and then apprehend one of the individuals that had a weapon. The Defenders handled the intense situation with discipline and calm professionalism,” said Col. Tyler Schaff, 316th Wing and Joint Base Andrews installation commander.
Prince George’s County Police, Maryland State Police, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Office of Special Investigation also responded. The incident remains under investigation.
Joint Base Andrews is the home of the president's fixed-wing operations and the aircraft known as Air Force One when the president is on board.
