Fort Bragg Active Shooter Report Was Not Real

FORT BRAGG, NC — An improperly coordinated training exercise on Wednesday was to blame for false reports of an active shooter on Fort Bragg, media outlets reported. Several users on Twitter indicated someone was shooting at the fort around 2:15 p.m., with one even saying helicopters were being brought out in response.

The Soldier Support Center, where hundreds of people work, was evacuated and a nearby middle school was placed on lockdown, Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum told The Fayetteville Observer.

But as it turns out, the whole incident was just a big oops. First responders learned the active shooter scenario was simply part of a drill, McCollum said.

Usually such a drill would've been coordinated with Fort Bragg officials. But that wasn't the case this time.

“Fort Bragg law enforcement did not know of the exercise and got called in,” McCollum told the newspaper. “We reacted as if it was real.”

McCollum could not immediately say who was responsible for the drill.

Click here to read the full article.

Photo credit: Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images