A bomb threat to a building at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas led to evacuations Tuesday, before an all-clear was given.
Lackland reported what it called a "security incident" on social media shortly after 11 a.m. local time, and advised people to stay away from the Arnold Hall area, and to stay indoors if they were already in that area. It later listed seven buildings in the area that personnel should avoid.
About an hour and a half later, Lackland announced that the incident had been resolved. Though social media and a statement originally referred to a lockdown being lifted, Lackland's accounts later clarified that the entire base was never locked down, and only that people in the area were asked to stay in place.
Oscar Balladares, public affairs chief for the 502nd Air Base Wing at Lackland, said in a statement that there had been a threat against a building. He later confirmed that it was a bomb threat, and the affected buildings were briefly evacuated and swept to make sure they were safe.
"We take all threats very seriously and responded accordingly," Balladares said. "People were instructed to avoid the area. All initial sweeps and secondary sweeps of the affected areas have proved negative and base lockdown has been lifted. Normal base operations have resumed."
Last April, Lackland was shocked when a training squadron commander was shot and killed by a student, who then committed suicide. That incident also triggered a lockdown on the base.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
