State House, nearby government buildings locked down for 2 hours after threat was

The Maryland State House and neighboring legislative buildings were on lockdown for almost two hours Thursday evening after a man called in to the Annapolis Police Department and said he was approaching the capitol building with a gun.

The lockdown began around 5 p.m., and law enforcement officers gave the “all-clear” in the State House and three nearby buildings at 6:52 p.m. But the intervening time was marked by tension and uncertainty — and differing levels of anxiety for the people who were working in or visiting the legislative complex, depending on where they were and what they were told.

Gov. Wes Moore (D), Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) were in the State House at the time of the lockdown. House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) had left the building moments earlier.

Police shut down State Circle, which surrounds the State House, and nearby streets, around 5 p.m.

In a statement, Nick Cavey, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of General Services, which oversees the Maryland Capitol Police, said the lockdown was ordered after the Annapolis police “received a call from an individual threatening to target the Maryland State House.

“The Annapolis City Police immediately notified the Maryland Capitol Police, Maryland State Police, Anne Arundel County Police, and security personnel in the House and Senate buildings about the potential threat,” Cavey’s statement said. “Within minutes of receiving the information, Maryland Capitol Police placed the Maryland State House, Government House, and House and Senate Office Buildings on lockdown, directing occupants to follow instructions from law enforcement — including to shelter in place.”

But the lockdown order was disseminated unevenly, and little information was issued officially while the lockdown was in place — and even after.

At 5:36 p.m., a spokesperson for Moore, Carter Elliott IV, released a statement that said: “The Maryland State House is currently under lockdown for a security threat. No other information is available at this time.

“Staff members, personnel, and community members on grounds should shelter in place and listen to directions from any available member of capitol police or law enforcement.”

Reporters working in the press room in the basement of the State House were warned by Jeremy P. Baker, Jones’ chief of staff around 5 p.m. that a gunman might be in the building and were advised to lock the doors. Others working in the State House basement received similar, frantic warnings, as rifle-toting police officers ran by. The eight people in the press room locked the doors, turned out the lights and huddled on the floor.

Word of the emergency spread more slowly to the House and Senate office buildings, where several legislative committees were holding public hearings.

“The Maryland Capitol Police coordinated sweeps of the State House, Senate and House buildings and surrounding grounds, according to protocol, and determined that the areas are secure and clear of any potential threat,” Cavey said in his statement. “The lockdown and shelter in place was lifted at 6:52 p.m. and all remaining occupants, including the governor, lieutenant governor, and Senate president, were escorted from the building, per situational protocol.”

Elliott, Moore’s spokesperson, said that after the all-clear, the governor crossed the street to Government House, the governor’s mansion, where several mayors from across the state had gathered for a reception that was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Members of Gov. Wes Moore’s staff after being evacuated from the State House Thursday. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.

“Our family is grateful for the members of the Maryland Capitol Police, Maryland State Police, Annapolis Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department who secured the State House Grounds and kept us safe today,” Moore said in a statement Thursday evening after the area was declared safe. “These brave men and women aren’t just Maryland’s finest — they’re Maryland’s promise. They define what it means to be a Marylander.”

But not all of the mayors made it inside to the reception before the lockdown order was called.

Rockville Mayor Monique Ashton said she was standing outside the gates of Government House just after 5 p.m., waiting to go into the reception for mayors, when she was hustled away from the building by security personnel and led to Lawyers Mall, just across from the State House.

Ashton was part of a group that was later escorted into the Lowe House Office Building and led into the Baltimore City delegation room, where about two dozen people, including State House staff, student pages and journalists were told to…