Fox News Channel inaccurately reported that gunshots were fired at the DC Navy Yard Thursday morning before changing its reporting to no shots fired.
The error occurred due to the network receiving an inaccurate email from the National Military Command Center that described an active shooting.
Reporter James Rosen reported of the shooting based off the following alert from the National Military Command Center, which was labeled SBU (Sensitive But Unclassified) at 8:01 a.m. ET
Navy Yard: Reports of active shooter
Subject: Navy Yard: Reports of active shooter (SBU)(SBU) The National Military Command Center confirmed reports of an active shooter at Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, DC. Media reports local streets are closed in the surrounding area and Navy Yard is on lockdown.
In the 8 a.m. eastern hour on “Fox & Friends,” anchors reported “Shots Confirmed: gunfire reported inside the building” before changing it to “no confirmation of shots fired.” At the scene, an army of police and emergency workers responded to the possible threat.
At 8:54 p.m. ET, Steve Doocy reported no shooter spotted. “That’s odd,” Brian Kilmeade said. “Why would there be a response like this?
MSNBC and CNN did not report confirmation there was an active shooter; CNN reported of a “potential active shooter.”
“I want to emphasize a potential active shooter,” CNN’s Poppy Harlow reported. “We do not know if there is indeed a gunman or not, we do not know if there has been a shooting or not, this all comes on the heels of a 911 call reporting a shooting on the second floor of building 197 there.”
See the reporting swap below.
