FBI agents across Connecticut are “exerting extra caution” after a gunman’s attempt to breach a security checkpoint at an FBI field office in Ohio on Thursday ended in a shooting and standoff with law enforcement, authorities said.
The gunman was wearing body armor and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement as he tried to flee, according to the Associated Press.
The standoff at the FBI’s Cincinnati field office comes as officials warn of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following the search of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate Donald Trump in Florida.
FBI offices throughout Connecticut are taking the incident seriously even though there have been no specific threats in that state, said FBI Public Affairs Specialist Charles Grady.
“The New Haven Field Division is exercising extra caution and increasing situational awareness although there are no threats at this time,” Grady said. The division oversees other FBI offices throughout Connecticut. Grady declined to specify how many offices there were in the state.
Federal officials said the man had “attempted to breach” the visitor screening area at the FBI office in Ohio and fled when confronted by agents. He was chased down Interstate 71 and exchanged gunfire with police, according to the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency.
There have been increasing threats against FBI agents and offices across the country in recent days since federal agents executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. On Gab, a social networking site popular with white supremacists and anti-Semites, users have warned that they are preparing for an armed revolution.
Federal officials have also been monitoring a number of other chats linked to Gab and other platforms that threaten violence against federal agents. FBI Director Christopher Wray reported the threats while visiting another FBI office in Nebraska on Wednesday.
“Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with,” Wray said Wednesday in Omaha.
The FBI also warned its agents on Wednesday to avoid protesters and make sure their security key cards are “not visible outside of FBI space,” citing an increase in cyber threats social security to office staff and facilities. He also warned officers to be aware of their surroundings and potential protesters.
The warning did not specifically mention this week’s Mar-a-Lago search, but attributed the online threats to “recent media reports of FBI investigative activity.”
Information from the Associated Press is included in this story.