San Antonio base locked down for hour after gunfire reported

SAN ANTONIO — An Air Force base in San Antonio was placed on lockdown for about an hour Wednesday after military officials said gunfire was reported near a base gate.

Two gunshots were reported heard coming from outside Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland onto the base about 11:50 a.m., said Lt. Col. Brian Loveless, 802nd Security Forces Squadron commander. Investigators were trying to determine whether the gunfire report was true or a false alarm, Loveless said.

It was unclear whether anyone saw a shooter or whether more than one shooter may have been involved, he said.

“We’re trying to investigate a couple of leads right now to confirm that gunshots actually did take place on the installation.

No injuries were reported, Loveless said.

Lackland is on San Antonio’s southeast side and is where the Air Force conducts all of its basic training.

“There’s a lot of facilities on this installation that are very important to the Air Force. I would rather overreact (to a gunfire report) than underreact,” Loveless said.

The base issued an alert midday, telling all Lackland Air Force Base personnel to go into lockdown. An alert on Twitter said: “Real World, LOCKDOWN, LOCKDOWN, LOCKDOWN.”

Officials said the shots were reportedly fired near the Valley Hi gate on the western side of the main base, just east of Interstate 410 and near a shopping center.

After an hour, the lockdown was lifted except for the Valley Hi gate.

San Antonio police said they were assisting in the investigation. In a statement, police spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez said officers were looking for the spot from which gunfire might have originated.