Montana nuclear base lockdown lifted after suspicious person prompts active shooter report

GREAT FALLS, Mont. —

An Air Force nuclear missile base in central Montana was locked down by authorities for about two hours on Thursday after an active shooter report sowed confusion and prompted officials to issue a shelter-in-place advisory for nearby schools.

No shots were fired and nobody was injured at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, the base said as it lifted the lockdown in a statement posted to social media. A suspicious person on the base had been reported as an active shooter, officials said.

Malmstrom had just begun a scheduled training exercise — an active shooter response drill — when the report came in of a real active shooter at another location on base, said Malmstrom spokesperson Staff Sgt. Trevor Rhynes.

Base officials directed people to stay away from a building where they said the “suspected real world threat” was reported at about 10:30 a.m. The Great Falls Police Department said it was providing security and support in the area of the base and nearby schools due to “an incident that may be occurring” at Malmstrom.

An advisory to shelter in place was announced for schools in the surrounding community. Police recommended private schools and daycare also shelter in place.

The lockdown was lifted about two hours later.

The base community had been notified Tuesday that the active shooter response drill would take place Thursday, but a time was not publicized, a U.S. defense official said on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public.

Military bases routinely conduct security training exercises. In 2017, Travis Air Force Base in California was locked down for more than an hour in response to a mistaken report of a shooter during an emergency training exercise, officials said at the time.

Malmstrom has about 4,000 active duty military and civilian personnel. It’s one of three bases in the U.S. that operates and secures vast fields of Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The missiles — housed in silos scattered across Montana — are tightly guarded by security forces, including troops in armored vehicles and snipers guarding from helicopters and towers to protect each movement of a warhead. The base conducts regular drills where its forces enact a security breach and train on how to reestablish control of a breached facility.

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Hanson reported from Helena, Montana. Associated Press journalist Tara Copp contributed from Washington, D.C.

The following update was sent out by Malmstrom Air Force Base:

UPDATE (12:43 P.M.) Malmstrom AFB has lifted the base lockdown and has returned to FPCON Bravo as of 12:39 p.m, local.

A suspicious person was reported on base as an active shooter. There were no confirmed shots fired and there are no casualties or injuries reported.

There is no threat to the public at this time. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing

The following update was sent out by Malmstrom Air Force Base:

UPDATE, 11:57 A.M.: The threat was announced at 10:29 a.m. at building 219. Air Force and emergency personnel are securing the area. FPCON Delta has been implemented at approximately 10:36 a.m. due to the incident.

Malmstrom officials are directing visitors and spectators to stay away from the building. Public cooperation will help protect against possible injuries and enable base agencies to more effectively deal with the situation.

Further information can be found here: https://www.malmstrom.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3678558/real-world-incident-at-malmstrom-air-force-base/

The following was sent out by Malmstrom Air Force Base:

Malmstrom Air Force Base has entered a lockdown status as of 10:29 AM on February 15 in response to an active shooter alert on base. The safety of our personnel is of the utmost priority and updates will continue to come from official channels.

At this time, it is advised to shelter in place.

The following was sent out by the Great Falls Police Department:

11:10AM – CORRECTION – All school east/south of the river are in SIP. See comments for a list of schools.

11:00AM – INCIDENT IN PROGRESS! Community members may see a large police presence on the far east end of town. We are responding, with Cascade County Sheriff/Coroner’s Office, to reports of an incident that may be occurring on Malmstrom Air Force Base.

All Great Falls Public Schools east/south of the river are in shelter in place (SIP). We recommend all private schools and day care facilities also go into SIP

WE DO NOT HAVE MORE INFORMATION THAN THIS RIGHT NOW, we will update this post as quickly as information is available

DO NOT CALL 911 UNLESS YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY TO REPORT!