The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
62°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Lockdown lifted at Washington state Capitol

A Thurston County sheriff’s deputy walks with a gun after a lockdown at the state Capitol campus in Olympia. was lifted Wednesday, July 12, 2017. The Washington State Patrol said in an email alert that troopers conducted a thorough search of buildings on campus Wednesday after reports of suspicious noises, but that nothing was found. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
A Thurston County sheriff’s deputy walks with a gun after a lockdown at the state Capitol campus in Olympia. was lifted Wednesday, July 12, 2017. The Washington State Patrol said in an email alert that troopers conducted a thorough search of buildings on campus Wednesday after reports of suspicious noises, but that nothing was found. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
Associated Press

OLYMPIA – A lockdown at the Washington state Capitol was lifted Wednesday after law enforcement officers responding to a report of possible gunfire didn’t find anything suspicious.

Washington State Patrol spokesman Kyle Moore said that a state employee called 911 at 9:14 a.m. after a person leaving a state building made a comment about hearing suspicious noises that sounded like gunfire. Authorities don’t know who made the comments, and the person has not been located, Moore said.

Troopers and Olympia police searched two state buildings and a parking garage “and did not find any evidence of any gunfire, of any gunman or of any victims,” Moore said.

The state law enforcement agency planned to bring in a bomb squad to do another search as a precaution, but all buildings were opened to employees and the public just after 10:30 a.m., he said.