The Latest on base shooting: Main gate open after lockdown

An SUV is stopped outside the front gate of little Rock Air Force Base near Jacksonville, Ark., Monday, June 15, 2015. Military officials said two people were hospitalized after shots were fired when a civilian attempted to enter Little Rock Air Force Base. The Jacksonville police department said the would-be intruder was injured and taken into custody. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

4:45 p.m. CDT

Little Rock Air Force Base says its main gate and visitors’ center have re-opened to normal traffic after being closed following a shooting.

The main gate into the sprawling base was closed for more than seven hours, before authorities removed an SUV driven by an armed man who was shot by guards outside the base Monday morning.

An SUV is stopped outside the front gate of little Rock Air Force Base near Jacksonville, Ark., Monday, June 15, 2015. Military officials said two people were hospitalized after shots were fired when a civilian attempted to enter Little Rock Air Force Base. The Jacksonville police department said the would-be intruder was injured and taken into custody. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

The main gate was the only gate that remained closed following the shooting.

2:20 p.m. CDT

The commander of the Little Rock Air Force Base says an SUV jumped a curb and knocked over a street sign near the base’s front gate before the driver got out with a rifle.

Col. Charles Brown Jr. said guards began firing after seeing the man was armed and quickly recognized it as a threat. The base hasn’t released the man’s name, but says he’s in critical condition at a hospital.

Brown said at a news conference that he didn’t know whether the man fired his weapon at the scene. He says the base is secure.

Brown says he didn’t know if the man said anything to the two guards, or how many shots were fired by the guards stationed near the entrance of the air base northeast of Little Rock.

1:15 p.m. CDT

Military officials say an armed civilian was shot and critically wounded after trying to enter Little Rock Air Force Base.

The base released a statement Monday saying the civilian is in critical condition, and that an injured bystander also is hospitalized. But no details about either person, or who fired the shots, have been released.

Jacksonville Police Sgt. Dustin Brown said a civilian had attempted to gain access to the base, which is in Jacksonville and about 15 miles northeast of Little Rock. A bomb squad was checking an SUV parked near a visitor center at the base’s main gate.

Base spokesman Lt. Amanda Farr says the base is no longer on lockdown. The sprawling base is home to a major C-130 training facility.

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