USA Today evacuated amid reports of man with a weapon at Virginia building

Officials say 'mistaken reports' led to newsroom evacuation and heavy police presence in Washington suburb

The USA Today headquarters in Virginia has been evacuated amid reports of a man at the Gannett building armed with a weapon, although claims of an active shooter at the offices were swiftly refuted by the FBI.

The publication’s newsroom was evacuated by SWAT teams as alarms rang throughout the building and police officers arrived in full body armour and equipped with rifles.

The building was cleared without any incident after police responded to an 11:56 am call, police told USA Today, which reported on its own evacuation in real-time.

Officials told the publication there was no shooter or indication of a shooting at the offices located in the Washington suburb. The Fairfax police chief said the suspect had not been located by 2:00 pm EST, and that the search could take several hours.

Hundreds of employees were brought outside as initial reports claimed an active shooter was on the scene. Journalists at USA Today refuted those claims on Twitter, but said the office was in fact being evacuated.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you. This can happen to anyone at any time,” David Oliver, an employee of USA Today, tweeted during the evacuation.

“We are evacuating the building,” he added, “will fill you in when I learn any more.”

By about 1:20 pm, it appeared there was no armed gunman on the scene and that the initial calls to police were based on mistaken information.

Photos posted to Twitter showed hundreds of workers outside of the building as a helicopter flew above.

Fire trucks, ambulance and other first responders were also reportedly present as the evacuation was underway.

The USA Today offices were the site of the latest false alarm after mass shootings rocked the country over the weekend, leaving over 30 people dead in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

In New York, motorcycle engines backfiring caused mass panic when some visitors in Times Square believed the sounds were gunshots on Tuesday night. Evacuations also occurred in a Utah mall after a sign fell, causing a loud disruption that also sounded like gunfire to some shoppers.