Four Northwest Offices Locked Down Amid Gun Scare

Capitol Police in Washington D.C. Photo Courtesy: boston.com

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The offices of four Northwest lawmakers were among those locked down Friday as Capitol police launched a floor-by-floor search of a House office building after an unidentified caller reported gunfire.

Two Northwest members of Congress - Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Brian Baird of Washington - were in the Rayburn building at the time of the lockdown.

Blumenauer has an office in the building, while Baird was in the gym when the lockdown started. Baird told KIRO Radio he saw no one with a gun other than police searching the building.

Three other Northwest lawmakers - all Democrats - have offices in Rayburn, the largest office structure on Capitol Hill.

Oregon Reps. Peter DeFazio and Darlene Hooley were on their way back home when the midmorning incident was reported, while Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., was driving to the Capitol complex after a morning visit to the dentist, their offices said.

No one was injured in the incident, and police said there were no arrests or even confirmation of the gunfire. Police reopened the building around 3:30 p.m., nearly five hours after the lockdown began.

"It keeps everybody on edge," Tim Daly, a spokesman for Blumenauer, said before the building was reopened. "Mostly we have cabin fever."

Daly said staff members were kept from leaving the office for any reason - including lunch - and that Blumenauer's office complex was searched about 1:00 PM Eastern.

The House was not in session Friday as lawmakers prepared for the Memorial Day recess.

George Behan, Dicks' chief of staff, said Dicks was confined to the Capitol after being told he could not enter his own office shortly after the incident was reported about 10:30 AM.

"You want them to take these things seriously," Behan said, noting that the lockdown was just the latest in a series of security scares since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Hooley's chief of staff, Joan Evans, was in Salem Friday but was in frequent touch with the office through by phone and e-mail.

"Things are normal, other than being locked in," she said. "They are working, using the phones, computers and restrooms." Staffers also were fortified by several blocks of Tillamook cheddar cheese, which is made in Hooley's district, Evans said.