Rayburn Reopens After Gunfire Report

Schneider said the single caller's report at 10:30 a.m. was "sufficient enough" reason to lock down the building.

"The Capitol Police reacted immediately," she said. "We wasted no time."

The sound of gunfire was heard on the third level of the three-level Rayburn garage, police said. There's a House gymnasium on the second level and a practice firing range -- used by Capitol Police -- on the first level of the garage.

At 10:45 a.m., Capitol Police sent an e-mail alert with instructions for people inside the Rayburn building: "If you are in the [building] . . . then Shelter in Place. Quickly move into the nearest interior office space or interior hallway and away from windows. The Capitol Police are investigating reports of gunfire in the Rayburn HOB."

The alert added: "Remain calm. Await further instructions. Do not leave the building."

A staffer of Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) was in the House gym when the Rayburn building was locked down. She was taken to a hospital by ambulance "just a little shaken up under the circumstances," the congressman's spokesman, David All, reported. She was released from the hospital before 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, an aide to Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), whose office also is in Rayburn, said Capitol Police suddenly were "bowling through the hallways," shouting for people to get into their offices, shut their doors, and stay there.

About a half dozen workers inside the second-floor Rayburn offices of U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) were continuing to answer calls and carry on with their work as usual, legislative assistant Heath Bumgardner said this morning.

"People were concerned but we go through a lot of alarms here, some real, some false," Bumgardner said.

The Senate continued to meet after the initial reports of gunfire. The House was not in session, but one committee was meeting.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), conducting a morning House Intelligence Committee hearing on "the media's role and responsibilities in leaks of classified information," interrupted a witness to tell people in the room they should not leave and that the doors were being closed.

"It's a little unsettling to get a Blackberry message put in front of you that says there's gunfire in the building," he said.