Pentagon briefly on lockdown after ‘suspicious person’ report

The Pentagon was briefly put on lockdown after someone reported a suspicious person in tactical gear, officials say, but it quickly became clear that the person was actually a police officer. The alert was then lifted.

The incident began just before 2:45 p.m. on Friday when an emergency message was sent to workers at the complex, stating: “PENTAGON ON LOCKDOWN … All access in and out of the Pentagon is restricted until further notice due to police activity.”

According to an official, the lockdown was issued after someone saw a person in tactical gear and reported it to the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the federal agency charged with protecting and safeguarding the complex.

A short time later, officers determined that the suspicious person was actually a PFPA police officer. “It was a misidentification,” the official said. The lockdown was officially lifted at 3:17 p.m.

Metrorail services at Pentagon station were briefly disrupted during the incident.

“The lockdown of the Pentagon has been terminated and regular access to the Pentagon has resumed,” the DOD Alert! Mass Warning and Notification System said in an update. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

The Pentagon, near Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense and one of the biggest buildings in the world. In 2001, a hijacked passenger plane crashed into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks, killing all 59 people on the plane and 125 people on the ground.