Shooting at US military base was 'exercise' - official

According to the original report by an emergency official, five people were injured in a shooting Thursday at the highly secure Ft. Meade army base north of Washington,

"We had an active shooter at 9:46. We have five casualties," Jeffrey McClendon, emergency manager with the base emergency operations center, told AFP.

Mclendon said the shooter was "contained" and that the status of those injured was unclear.

'JUST AN EXERCISE'

On the other hand, some time after a base official said that the reported shooting at the US Army's highly secure Ft. Meade base north of Washington Thursday was just an exercise, with no casualties as originally reported.

Andrew Arconti, chief of plans and operations at the base, told AFP that the ostensible incident was a planned exercise for such emergencies, after another official had confirmed the incident to AFP.