Police Swarm to Tesla Headquarters After Employees Receive 'Active Attacker' Message and Start Fleeing
A Tesla factory in Austin, Texas, was evacuated early Friday morning in response to an alert about an “active attacker” at the facility.
The alert went out by text to employees just before 5:00 a.m. local time.
“There is an Active Attacker around column 35Z in GFTX. Please take cover and stand by for further details,” the alert said.
Here is a message we got from a Tesla employee that asked everyone to evacuate the building because of an active shooter situation.
We are waiting for confirmation from police. pic.twitter.com/swDIWeBker
— Pamela Comme (@commepamela) July 28, 2023
Video taken by KVUE’s Pamela Comme showed police arriving at the Tesla Gigafactory shortly thereafter.
NEW: police just arrived and said “Everyone needs to leave right now!” Workers started running. pic.twitter.com/3uvUNzNzyu
— Pamela Comme (@commepamela) July 28, 2023
According to Comme’s tweet, police told workers at the factory that “Everyone needs to leave right now,” causing employees to run to safer locations.
Police closed nearby roads, including Tesla Road and State Highway 130, KVUE reported.
Deputies from the Travis County Sheriff’s Office cleared the building, finding no evidence of gunshots or casualties.
By 6:20 or so, about 90 minutes after the initial alert had gone out, officials gave employees the “all clear” and allowed them to get back to work.
“The situation is safe after Law Enforcement conducted a thorough sweep of the area,” the notice read, according to a tweet from KEYE’s John-Carlos Estrada.
The exit to get onto Tesla Road is back open.
Cars are going through, and workers seem to be entering the Tesla Gigafactory. https://t.co/QcX3p9Dxpe pic.twitter.com/yh6RLHgvub
— Pamela Comme (@commepamela) July 28, 2023
KEYE reported that deputies found “nothing out of the ordinary,” and that the initial report of an attacker at the site remained unsubstantiated.
Both KEYE and KVUE reported that traffic remained snarled near the facility in the hours following law enforcement’s closing of the incident.
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