VP Harris Landed at Joint Base Andrews. Then, 2 Intruders

Authorities say a teen with a weapon was arrested Sunday night, one person still on the loose
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 7, 2022 9:04 AM CST
VP Harris Landed at Joint Base Andrews. Then, 2 Intruders
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

After her appearance Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., to mark the 57th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," Vice President Kamala Harris flew back to the DC area, arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland close to 9pm. That's when, per base officials, two intruders tried to gain access to the military facility, leading to one person's arrest and another fleeing the premises, reports CNN. Per a pool report, Harris arrived at the airfield on Air Force Two around 8:47pm, and had boarded the Marine Two helicopter with her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, less than five minutes later, leaving the base by 9pm.

Right around that time, a vehicle drove through the security checkpoint and "failed to adhere to commands of security personnel," per a Sunday night statement from the base. The statement notes that barriers were immediately erected, and that when the vehicle stopped, two people got out and started running. One person was caught, while the other managed to get away; the base was locked down during a subsequent search. Security officials and outside authorities did "a full sweep" of the base "and found confirmatory evidence that the base intruder on the loose had departed the installation," per a Monday morning update.

Base officials say the person who was apprehended was a 17-year-old male "in possession of a firearm." It's not clear what the intruders' motive was for the breach. During the lockdown, law enforcement searched both the grounds and vehicles on the premises, including one that held reporters, per the New York Times. With Harris and Emhoff on the flight back from Alabama were Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. Meanwhile, President Biden also traveled this weekend, to Wilmington, Del., but he flew directly back to the White House on Marine One. (More Andrews Air Force Base stories.)

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