COAST GUARD INCIDENT IN POTOMAC RIVER SECURITY ZONE
September 11th, 2009Update3: Coast Guard to review exercise after Potomac security scare
CNN:
The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it will review a training incident along the Potomac River that triggered security concerns about President Obama on the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
“We are still gathering information of how this training event might have been misconstrued as an actual incident. We will conduct a thorough review of this incident,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
It added, “The best way that we in the Coast Guard can remember Sept. 11, and our security obligations to the nation is to be always ready and this requires constant training and exercise. To ensure the appropriate readiness posture we conduct training scenarios across the nation on a daily basis.”
Minutes after Obama crossed the Memorial Bridge following an event at the Pentagon, word broke that a Coast Guard vessel apparently was trying to prevent a suspicious boat from entering a security zone.
There were reports on police scanners that the Coast Guard fired 10 rounds of ammunition. But a Department of Homeland Security representative later said no shots had been fired.
The Secret Service said the president was back at the White House by the time of the reports of shots being fired.
Federal agency emergency operations centers were not aware of the Coast Guard training exercise and began making contingency plans when word broke of what seemed to be a security incident, a federal source said.
—End Update—
UPDATE2: Coast Guard reports Potomac incident as a drill
The Associated Press cited Coast Guard Chief Keith Moore as saying the Coast Guard was conducting a training exercise in the Potomac moments before President Barack Obama and his motorcade crossed a nearby bridge. He also said that no shots were fired as part of the exercise, according to The AP.
Amid high security, the U.S. Coast Guard confronted a boat on restricted waters on the Potomac River outside Washington, D.C., according to CNN.
CNN initially reported 10 round being fired, but on reported its website shortly afterward that police scanner reports of shots being fired could not be immediately confirmed.
Departures from Reagan National Airport were halted shortly after 10 a.m. as a precaution, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said. The airport borders the Potomac River near where shots were reported fired.
President Obama had been taking part in a September 11th ceremony at the Pentagon.
—End Update—
UPDATE1: Training Exercise?
AP: Coast Guard conducts training exercise on Potomac
(AP) – 12 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard was conducting a training exercise in the Potomac River moments before President Barack Obama and his motorcade crossed a nearby bridge.
Coast Guard Chief Keith Moore said Friday no shots were fired as part of the exercise. Media reports suggested shots had been fired in the river.
Obama had traveled to the Pentagon for a ceremony commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
—End Update—
Via: CNN:
The U.S. Coast Guard tried Friday to prevent a boat from entering a security zone on the Potomac River not far from the Pentagon, where President Obama was at an event commemorating the September 11 attacks.
There were reports on police scanners that the Coast Guard fired 10 rounds of ammunition, but those reports could not immediately be confirmed. It was not immediately clear from the reports whether they referred to warning shots.
The incident took place between the Memorial and 14th Street bridges, in a zone that had been blocked off because of the ceremonies.
Obama had departed the Pentagon shortly after 10 a.m. ET. Reports of the incident came in shortly after 10 a.m. ET.
