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March 7 (UPI) -- An armed teen was arrested and a second person fled while intruding at the Joint Base Andrews military facility in Maryland on Sunday around the time Vice President Kamala Harris returned from a Bloody Sunday event in Selma, Ala., authorities said. The two intruders had driven through a security checkpoint at the main gate to the military base around 9 p.m., officials said in a statement, around the time Harris and four cabinet members had arrived at the base.
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A White House official told the Washington Post that Harris and the four cabinet members left the base safely. The cabinet members were Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Michael Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Joint Base Andrews officials said that the intruders "failed to adhere to commands of security personnel" and that security forces "immediately deployed the barriers and stopped the vehicle.
"The two intruders fled before the teen was found and arrested. The other intruder was not immediately found, prompting the base into a brief lockdown as security forces swept the base.
Officials said that no shots were fired and did not consider the incident an active shooter situation, as they began slowly letting cars onto the base around midnight.
In a morning update, officials said that evidence was found that the second intruder had left the base before they could be arrested. The identities of the intruders have not been revealed.
Col. Tyler Schaff, the commander at Joint Base Andrews, said in the statement that the security forces "handled the situation with discipline, calm and professionalism."
"I apologize for the inconvenience some experienced while traveling to and from the base last night," Schaff said. "We appreciate everyone's understanding and patience as the installation was being searched.
Harris had traveled to Selma to mark the 57th anniversary of the 1965 protest marches during which state troopers beat and tear-gassed civil rights activists including the late congressman John Lewis.
Speaking from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Harris reflected on the historic event and commented about the recent failure of the proposed Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which had been blocked by Senate Republicans.
"We know that honoring the legacy of those who marched then demands that we continue to push Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation," Harris said. "And it also demands we continue to push the Senate not to allow an arcane rule to deny us this sacred right."
