Reports of gunfire Wednesday near a Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, gate led to a lockdown, which has since been lifted.
A shooting was believed to have occurred outside the base’s Valley Hi Gate, the installation said on social media around 1:30 p.m. local time. After an hour, the lockdown was lifted except for the Valley Hi gate.
Two gunshots were reported heard coming from outside Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland onto the base about 11:50 a.m., said Lt. Col. Brian Loveless, 802nd Security Forces Squadron commander. Investigators were trying to determine whether the gunfire report was true or a false alarm, Loveless said.
It was unclear whether anyone saw a shooter or whether more than one shooter may have been involved, he said.
“We’re trying to investigate a couple of leads right now to confirm that gunshots actually did take place on the installation.
No injuries were reported, Loveless said.
“There’s a lot of facilities on this installation that are very important to the Air Force. I would rather overreact (to a gunfire report) than underreact,” Loveless said.
“Active shooter warning for all JBSA-Lackland personnel,” the Army-Air Force base said around 12:45 p.m. local time on Facebook. “All base personnel implement LOCKDOWN procedures immediately and take cover. Real world LOCKDOWN, LOCKDOWN, LOCKDOWN.”
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San Antonio police said they were assisting in the investigation. In a statement, police spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez said officers were looking for the spot from which gunfire might have originated.
The Air Force manages the installation and hosts two of its three components, Lackland and Randolph Air Force bases. The Army’s Fort Sam Houston is also located at JBSA.
JBSA is home to Air Force basic military, technical and flight training, as well as 16th Air Force, which handles intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber and other information warfare operations. U.S. Army North is headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, as well.
In 2018, Fort Sam Houston locked down after two people in a vehicle drove through the Schofield Gate before fleeing security forces on foot. The year prior, Lackland evacuated some personnel because of a bomb threat to one of the installation’s buildings. The incident was resolved with no explosives found.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.
