(Photo by Marco Di Paola)
Arlington National Cemetery has reopened as of 3 p.m. The cemetery had been closed to the general public since around 11 a.m., following a bomb threat.
Scheduled funerals took place during the investigation, and family pass holders were also allowed to visit. The military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that 23 funerals were scheduled for Wednesday.
Around 11 a.m., the cemetery tweeted that visitors and employees had been safely removed from the site. Cemetery officials and emergency personnel from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall are investigating the threat.
Arlington National Cemetery officials and @JBMHH emergency services are currently responding to a #BombThreat to the cemetery.
All families, visitors and employees have been evacuated safely from all public buildings and work areas while the threat is being investigated. pic.twitter.com/x4Q2RRKA33
— Arlington National Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) August 22, 2018
The cemetery later said that the site was open for funerals as of 11:30 a.m. but temporarily closed to the general public.
#UPDATE: As of 11:30 a.m., the cemetery is temporarily closed to the general public but is open for conducting funeral services.
We will continue to post updates as they become available. https://t.co/gU5XSGeXVg
— Arlington National Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) August 22, 2018
That was later updated to reflect the decision to close for the day.
UPDATE: As of 12 p.m., we are closed to the public the rest of the day. We will conduct all funerals as scheduled.
We will continue to post updates on our website and social media platforms. https://t.co/gU5XSGeXVg
— Arlington National Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) August 22, 2018
The Northern Virginia site is the final resting place of hundreds of U.S. military veterans and popular tourist attraction.
A few visitors shared their experiences this morning on Twitter:
Evacuated at Arlington National Cemetery – bomb squad drove past – more excitement than I want – no clue what is happening
— Monica Duran (@mduran_315) August 22, 2018
Came to Arlington Natl Cemetery only to find out that there’s been a bomb threat.. stay safe everybody! Thank you @ArlingtonNatl for keeping your visitors up to date and god bless you for honoring those who have served our country. ??
— Elias Griffith (@egriffithCH) August 22, 2018
This isn’t the first time the cemetery has been evacuated. In 2015, the cemetery was evacuated for about an hour after a suspicious package was discovered.
This post originally appeared on WAMU. It will be updated.
