The CIA headquarters were sent into lockdown on Wednesday morning after a gunman was spotted near the agency’s base.
The armed man, who has not been identified, reportedly pulled a handgun and made threats outside the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Reports indicate the man experienced a ‘mental health crisis’, was seen sitting on a bench outside the property and pointed a handgun at the agency headquarters.
Police, SWAT teams and bomb squads rushed to the scene, and a passerby described the law enforcement response as ‘massive’, per the US Sun.
Early reports falsely indicated the man fired his weapon into the air outside the CIA headquarters, however a law enforcement source told WJLA that no shots were fired in the incident.
There are no reports of injuries or deaths as a result of the situation, which has sent the area around the agency into lockdown as roads are blocked.
A nearby school was also placed on lockdown as the incident unfolded.
It was not immediately clear on Wednesday morning if the gunman was in custody, and a heavy law enforcement presence remained outside Langley.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as information is confirmed.
The CIA was plunged into lockdown after a gunman was found at the agency headquarters
Police, SWAT teams and bomb squads rushed to the scene, closing roads near the campus in Langley, Virginia
There are no reports of injuries or deaths as a result of the situation, which has sent the area around the agency into lockdown as roads are blocked
The incident comes just hours after President Trump ordered the release of classified files related to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Conspiracy theories have swirled in the decades since the assassination that the CIA was involved in the shooting, however there is no indication from law enforcement that the gunman incident on Wednesday morning was related to the file release.
The CIA headquarters have faced several previous similar incidents, most recently in 2021 when an armed man was wounded in a shooting with an FBI agent.
In 1993, two CIA employees were killed and three others were wounded when a Pakistani man opened fire outside the Langley headquarters.
