Montpelier was at somewhat of a standstill Friday as law enforcement followed up on reports of a person with a gun at Vermont state government buildings. As of late Friday afternoon, a lockdown of the state office complex had been lifted, but two state government buildings in Montpelier remained closed.
Those two closed buildings are 6 Baldwin Street and 133 State Street — an email from the Vermont Department of Human Resources at 3:50 p.m. said that though both addresses "were thoroughly searched and no intruder or firearm were located," another search was being conducted at both locales "out of an abundance of caution."
Earlier in the day, around 1:15 p.m., the Governor's Office had sent an email announcing a lockdown of the entire state office complex:
"State buildings in Montpelier are currently in lockdown and State Street is partially closed to traffic. No entry into, or exits from, state buildings is permitted until further notice. "Police from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are responding to a report of a person with a gun entering the State office building located at 133 State St. Evacuation and shelter-in-place procedures were activated, per state security procedures."
The governor's communication wasn't the first update to come out of Montpelier on Friday regarding the ongoing situation in downtown.
Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles had tweeted at 11:41 a.m. that its Montpelier office, located on State Street, was on lockdown. Around 12:15 p.m., Buildings Commissioner Chris Cole told VPR there was an unconfirmed report of a man with a rifle in the state office complex, prompting police to search each floor of the Department of Taxes building.
Adam Silverman, with the Vermont State Police, noted on Twitter that the state police have been assisting with the investigation but that Montpelier Police are the primary agency dealing with this situation.
Silverman also shared communication from the Vermont Department of Human Resources, sent around 12:30 p.m., that alerted employees to the lockdown but also stated "our understanding is that the situation is well under control and not a danger."
.@VTStatePolice is assisting Montpelier Police Department with an incident in the city, the nature of which is under investigation. Montpelier PD is lead law-enforcement agency. #VT DHR update to state employees is below. #vtpoli #btv pic.twitter.com/YnAcq2RTDC
— Adam Silverman (@Wej12) August 30, 2019
This post was last updated at 5:14 p.m.
