Joint Base Andrews, the home of Air Force One, was the scene of a bomb threat Friday that was ultimately determined to be a hoax, a military spokesman said afterward.
A motorist approached the main gate of the installation at roughly 4:45pm and told security personnel he had a bomb in his vehicle, said a spokesperson for the 316th Wing of U.S. Force based there.
“After the individual was taken into custody, bomb sniffing military working dogs did an initial sweep of the vehicle and did not find anything relevant,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The automobile was also examined by a specialized robot and a member of the Air Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team before it was determined there was no bomb, the official added.
“We take every threat seriously,” Col. Tyler Schaff, commander of both the base and the 316th Wing, said in a statement. “Our team took every precaution to keep our airmen and their families safe.”
The motorist was taken into custody and questioned by base security forces as well as partner law enforcement agencies, according to a statement issued by the installation Friday.
Access to the base via its main gate was briefly suspended prior to security personnel determining the area was safe, the statement said.
Officials had not released the name of the motorist as of Saturday but described the suspect as “a civilian with no military affiliation.”
Joint Base Andrews, a joint Air Force and Navy installation, is located in Camp Springs, Maryland, in Prince George’s County, roughly a dozen miles southeast of the White House in Washington.
For nearly 60 years, Andrew has been the home base for the fleet of jets that serve under the call sign Air Force One when the president is aboard. President Biden was not scheduled to travel out of town Friday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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