MacDill Air Force Base Briefly Placed on Lockdown Amid Active Shooter Reports

The Florida Air Force base that houses two of the military's unified combatant commands was briefly on lockdown Friday morning, officials confirmed to Military.com.

Senior Airman Adam Shanks, a public affairs official with MacDill, said the lockdown began around 7:13 a.m. and had been lifted by 8 a.m. Officials continued to investigate reports of an active shooter on the base, he said.

The base released a statement later in the morning providing more details about the incident. In social media posts, officials said that a potential "armed and dangerous" suspect had been reported near the Tanker Way gate area of MacDill.

"Local authorities are currently searching for the suspect. MacDill first responders are on the scene, and have isolated the response to the Tanker Way area," they said. "MacDill has opened all gates except Tanker Way gate. More information will be released as it becomes available."

Officials noted that no shots were fired and there were no injuries to MacDill employees. The lockdown lasted until "first responders isolated the situation near Tanker Way gate."

Many bases have stepped up vigilance in the wake of two deadly shootings aboard Navy bases in December. On Dec. 4, a sailor killed two civilian workers and himself at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii; on Dec. 6, a Saudi officer in training at Naval Air Station Pensacola went on a shooting spree, killing three and injuring eight more before being fatally shot.

MacDill, in Tampa, is headquarters for U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.