An armed teenager was arrested after ignoring a vehicle checkpoint at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday (March 6) night. The teen and his passenger then proceeded to the main gate, dismissed the soldiers' commands, and got out of the car. The breach happened around the same time that Vice President Kamala Harris and four Cabinet members landed at the base.
The base was put on lockdown as security began to search for the two suspects. They managed to locate the 17-year-old who was driving the car, which was reported stolen. He was armed, but officials did not provide any details about what kind of weapon he had or why he ignored commands to stop at the checkpoint.
Officials searched the base for several hours and determined that the second suspect had "departed the installation."
Harris flew out of the base on Marine Two, the vice-presidential helicopter, though it was unclear if they knew about the security situation before departing.
The lockdown was lifted around 3 a.m.
"I am incredibly proud of the quick actions of our Defenders to immediately deploy the barriers to stop last night's stolen vehicle and then apprehend one of the individuals that had a weapon. The Defenders handled the intense situation with discipline and calm professionalism," said Col. Tyler Schaff, 316th Wing, and Joint Base Andrews installation commander.