Gunfire report triggers alert near US Capitol (Roundup)

Washington - Police searched a legislative office building near the US Capitol for hours Friday after a caller reported hearing gunfire, triggering a major alert, police said. Members of the US House of Representatives who work in the Rayburn Office Building were told to stay inside their offices. Police focussed the search on a basement gymnasium, television reports said. 'We're handling this as a very serious matter,' Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider told reporters. 'We want to err on the side of caution. Lives could be at risk.' Police were investigating whether shots were actually fired, and no injuries or arrests have been reported, she said. Police, some heavily armed, responded after an unidentified caller at 10:30 a.m. reported the sound of gunfire in the office building, Schneider said. Three hours later, the search was continuing. Police cars clogged the hilly streets around the Capitol and ambulances stood ready as a precaution. 'The entire Rayburn building is being searched today,' Schneider said. But Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the capital Washington in the House of Representatives, told a local television station that it was 'just another one of those false alarms' until she heard otherwise. The US Senate, which occupies the other half of the Capitol building in Washington, remained in session during the alert. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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