NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Two buildings at a U.S. Navy support facility in Virginia were evacuated Wednesday after reports of a suspicious individual, a Navy spokeswoman said.
Beth Baker, spokeswoman for the Navy's Mid-Atlantic Region, said a man was taken into custody for questioning but there was "no indication he was carrying a weapon," The (Norfolk) Virginia-Pilot reported.
The incident at Naval Support Activity Hampton Road, two days after a gunman went on a deadly shooting spree at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., began about 3 p.m. EDT and lasted about 2 hours, the newspaper said. Baker said the decision to evacuate the buildings and close the gates to the complex was not based on Monday's massacre.
"The response is consistent with the report that came in," she told the newspaper.
Baker said the man being questioned had valid ID and security clearance to be on the site, but she did not know if he is employed by the Navy.
It wasn't clear what the man was doing that aroused suspicions, though the newspaper said a source on the base said he was carrying a backpack.
The facility holds the Joint Forces Staff College, the U.S. Fleet Forces Command and NATO's Allied Command for Transformation. About 6,000 people work there.
