Man with gun in NASA's Johnson Space Center

April 20, 2007

Houston, Texas - A man has barricaded himself inside a building with a gun inside NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

A man has barricaded himself inside a building with a gun inside the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Authorities said callers at the space center told dispatchers that several shots were fired inside the building, but those reports could not be confirmed and there appeared to be no injuries.

Employees have been evacuated and a SWAT team has surrounded the building.

NASA security personnel as well as Houston police responded to "a report about a person with a weapon" at Building 44, the communications and tracking development laboratory, on the space center's campus, agency spokeswoman Lynette Madison told MSNBC.com. She said that personnel were evacuated from the building, and that the situation was "ongoing." Police commandos were surrounding the building and searching inside.

Authorities said the man was barricaded in a second-floor office. His identity is not yet known.

Space Center Intermediate School was placed in lockdown mode as a precaution, according to district officials. Parents were asked to not come to the campus until the all-clear is given.