Incidents at Norfolk Naval Shipyard led to false report of active threat, shipyard says

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Two unrelated security incidents Thursday morning at Norfolk Naval Shipyard led to the “false report of an active threat situation,” the shipyard says.

The reported threat, which the shipyard initially relayed as a potential active shooter, led to the shipyard going into lockdown around 11:55 a.m. The all clear was eventually given around 12:15 p.m.

10 On Your Side’s Andy Fox confirmed through shipyard officials that the shelter in place was first issued after a report of a person walking into the building with a gun. This was later proven to be untrue.

Base officials however did say that a gun was discovered in a private contractor’s vehicle earlier in the day, around 8:30 a.m. Officials say both the contractor and vehicle were authorized to be on the shipyard for ongoing work, but they were not allowed to bring a weapon onto the property.

“The weapon was secured by U.S. Navy law enforcement officials and the subject contractor was detained,” the shipyard said in a statement. “NNSY takes employee safety very seriously and a thorough investigation is underway to determine how the individual was able to transport a weapon onto federal property.”

The shipyard says around the same time the gun was found, another employee was reported to have made threats against the shipyard and their coworkers. The employee’s supervisor immediately reported the threat to base police.

“Base police and appropriate law enforcement officials have since confirmed the subject employee is no longer present at the shipyard and their installation access has been revoked,” the shipyard said.

The shipyard confirmed no injuries were reported and “will thoroughly investigate these incidents and take all appropriate actions to ensure the continued safety and well-being of our employees and our surrounding community.”

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