Updated 2:45 p.m. Feb. 15

Law enforcement responded to reports of an active shooter on Malmstrom Air Force Base.

An exercise was planned for 10 a.m. in a specific building on base. The exercise was planned as an active shooter scenario.

At 12:43 p.m. Malmstrom said the lockdown was lifted and had returned to Force Protection Condition Bravo.

“A suspicious person was reported on base as an active shooter. There were no confirmed shots fired and there are no casualties or injuries reported. There is no threat to the public at this time. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing,” according to Malmstrom.

At 12:18 p.m., Cascade County Sheriff’s Office said they have limited information on the incident on base.

CCSO and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations are on scene, according to CCSO.

“There have been no shots fired or any known injuries,” according to CCSO.

Malmstrom public affairs said that shortly after the exercise began, reports started coming in of an active shooter in a different building.

Malmstrom went into Force Protection Condition Delta, which is the highest response level, at about 10:30 a.m., according to public affairs.

The base advised personnel to shelter in place.

Just before noon, Malmstrom said they are directing visitors and spectators away from the building.

Air Force and emergency responders are securing the area involved, Malmstrom said.

“Public cooperation will help protect against possible injuries and enable base agencies to more effectively deal with the situation,” Malmstrom officials said in a statement.

Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said they were called at 10:38 a.m. and are working to determine what is happening on the base.

Great Falls Police Department is also responding to the reports of an active shooter.

GFPD said that all Great Falls Public Schools east and south of the river are in shelter in place and they recommended that private schools and day cares in the area do the same.

GFPS schools returned to normal operations around 1 p.m.

GFPD asked that community members not call 911 unless reporting an emergency.

During a press conference after the incident, Slaughter said that they responded quickly to the base after receiving reports of an active shooter on base.

He said that he called the city fire chief to open the emergency operations center and send the undersheriff and a captain to the base in the hopes of establishing unified command. He said he launched the county’s command vehicle and stood up the task force rescue in the event that there were mass casualties.

Slaughter said deputies were on base, but when the base locked down about 10 minutes after the initial call CCSO officials couldn’t get onto base or communicate with the deputies on the base other than by cell phone.

Slaughter said he was frustrated with Malmstrom not letting CCSO officials on base or putting him in command of the incident.

Slaughter said that he has jurisdiction over criminal matters on the base.

County Attorney Josh Racki said that when the state of Montana transferred the land to the Air Force for the military base, the state reserved criminal jurisdiction on the property. He said that means CCSO has criminal jurisdiction, that can be concurrent with the Air Force when a crime is committed by a military member against another military member.

Racki said that they understand Malmstrom has its own law enforcement officers.

Slaughter said it was difficult communicating with base officers to get information to update the community.

Slaughter said that the training exercise, that was using an active shooter scenario, turned into a real world situation.

He said he thought the situation could have been resolved more quickly if his officers were allowed on base and able to take command of the incident response.

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.