Armed man shot trying to get into Arkansas air base: authorities

By Lisa Maria Garza

(Reuters) - An armed man trying to get into the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas was shot at the gate on Monday and is in critical condition at an area hospital, base officials said.

The incident sent the base into lockdown for nearly three hours while authorities examined the car driven by the man. They believe he was acting alone but did not identify him or release further information. Authorities said he carried a rifle.

"I do not know if the suspect fired rounds out of his weapon, but I do know that he was brandishing a weapon at the time he exited his vehicle," said Colonel Charles Brown the commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at the base.

The man was trying to get through the gate and may have lost control of his vehicle, Brown said at a news conference.

Photos posted on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette website showed a man wearing a bomb protection suit at the base entrance near a sports utility vehicle linked to the suspect.

The base is home to the 19th Airlift Wing and has more than 8,000 active duty military and civilian members, it said on its website.

(Reporting by Lisa Maria Garza in Dallas and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas)