Pentagon: No Active Shooter at Walter Reed Medical Center, Just a Drill

The Department of Defense said Tuesday afternoon that there was no active shooter at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and that reports of a shooter at the center were part of an exercise, CNN informs.

Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Audricia Harris told CNN that the situation at Walter Reed was an exercise. The U.S. Navy said via Twitter that it had confirmed there was no active shooter. “Was an ad hoc drill by tenant command,” the Navy tweeted.

The statement came about 30 minutes after the Montgomery County Police press office said it had received a call to assist for a report of an active shooter at Walter Reed.

Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, had tweeted about the situation from inside the center. “I am currently at Walter Reed Medical in Bethesda where we’ve been told there is an active shooter,” Ruppersberger tweeted.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington. According to its website, Walter Reed is the nation’s largest military medical center and has about 7,000 dedicated staff members.