Lockdown Lifted at Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Center After “Multiple Incidents”

Officials locked down the Naval Air Engineering Center in Lakehurst, New Jersey for about an hour Monday morning due to “multiple events” that happened around 9:30 a.m. A spokeswoman said that one incident involved a delivery truck driver carrying a legal firearm, at the same time, a gunshot was heard in another section. The lockdown went into effect around 10 a.m. ET and was lifted around 11 a.m. Base authorities said in a statement that no personnel were in danger.

Things started when a delivery truck driver at the main gate was asked if he was carrying any firearms with him. The driver confirmed he was and showed military police officers a gun saying that that was for personal protection. Because civilian firearms are not allowed inside the base, he was then given a ticket  by security and was told to leave the place, but allowed to to keep his licensed firearm. Spokeswoman Pattie Odoardo said they did not know who the driver works for.

The second incident involved gunshots at the station’s commercial gate. “There were reports of gunshots,” Pattie Odoardo said. She also said that security has found nothing to substantiate there were any gunshots.

Lakehurst merged with Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base last year as part of a joint base initiative to make the military’s first three-branch base.

The base in Lakehurst, New Jersey is best known as the place where the airship Hindenberg exploded in 1937. It merged with Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base last year as part of a joint base initiative to make the military’s first three-branch base and one of its main missions relates to the equipment used to launch aircraft from carriers at sea.