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After about 90 minutes of investigating, police allowed workers
in three Senate office buildings adjacent to the U.S. Capitol to
return to work.
"I think at this point we can say we've found no confirmation of
an active shooter and this may have been a bogus call," Manger
said.
About 200 officers were mobilized to clear the three Senate
office buildings on Constitution Avenue. Manger said there were
no indications that anyone suspicious was spotted nearby.
Manger said Washington's Metropolitan Police Department received
a call reporting a shooter and tried to contact the initial
caller without success.
After the call, police urged people inside Senate office
buildings to shelter in place.
The Senate was in summer recess, and most lawmakers were not in
Washington. However, congressional offices retain reduced staffs
on site. There also typically are dozens of workers staffing
Senate cafeterias, coffee shops and security posts, and
performing building maintenance, as well as tourists in the
Capitol.
Police received the call one day before former President Donald
Trump is expected to appear in a federal courthouse just blocks
from the Capitol.
On Tuesday Trump was indicted over attempts to overturn the 2020
presidential election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
Security around government buildings at the courthouse and
surrounding areas was being beefed up in anticipation of Trump's
arrival.
"We're prepared for tomorrow. We've been working with our
partner agencies... in preparation for whenever the indictment
did happen," Manger said.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton, Patricia Zengerle, Kanishka Singh
and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Doina Chiacu)
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