Pentagon lockdown lifted after gunshots fired near Metro station

The Pentagon reopened on Tuesday afternoon, about an hour and a half after it was put on lockdown after a "shooting incident" near a platform by the facility's Metro station, international news agencies reported.

The incident occurred on a Metro bus platform that is part of the Pentagon Transit Center, the Pentagon Protection Force Protection Agency tweeted.

A Pentagon announcement said the facility was on lockdown due to “police activity”. Metro subway trains were ordered to bypass the Pentagon due to a police investigation.

The agency, which is responsible for security in and around the Defense Department building, later tweeted, "The Pentagon has lifted the lockdown and has reopened".

“It is still an active crime scene. We request that everyone stay away from the Metro rail entrance and bus platform area,” the agency said.

The agency added that the Metro entrance however remained closed.

Because of the police action, Pentagon employees got an electronic warning on their computers, and an overhead broadcast was made asking all Pentagon personnel to stay inside and not wander outside.