White House press conference interrupted by bomb threat
Press briefing room evacuated shortly after similar threats to Senate office buildings
WASHINGTON
A bomb threat against the White House on Tuesday prompted the brief evacuation of the press briefing room.
The Secret Service interrupted the daily press conference following a telephone bomb threat, shortly after a similar call was received concerning two Senate office buildings that forced evacuations at those locations.
About 30 minutes after the White House evacuation, reporters were allowed to return to the briefing room where spokesman Josh Earnest said metropolitan police initially received the threat and then forwarded the information to the Secret Service.
He said the agency continues to investigate the report and that President Barack Obama, whose office is in close proximity to the briefing room, was not evacuated. Other parts of the White House were not evacuated.
The incident took place about an hour after U.S. Capitol police evacuated several floors of the Dirksen Senate Office Building over a phone call reporting a suspicious package.
The partial evacuation interrupted a hearing into security lapses at the Transportation Security Administration.
A message posted to the Twitter account of the Senate sergeant-at-arms said the northwest door of the building was closed until further notice.
Local media reported that Capitol police were also investigating a “suspicious” bag in the Russell Senate Office Building courtyard. It is not clear if the two incidents are related.
Tuesday’s incidents follow a series of recent security lapses at the Capitol. Last month a man landed with a small gyrocopter on the south lawn of the Capitol – just weeks after the building was placed on lockdown when a man reportedly attempted suicide at the West Front of the building.
