Non-Terrorist Incident at Fort Sam Houston

As reported in last night’s news feed, a four-hour lockdown was ordered at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio yesterday afternoon due to a “high-security incident” in which a suspicious, unauthorized vehicle was able to enter the base. More details, some of them conflicting with each other, emerged in today’s news, making the story more intriguing.

The incident will probably turn out to be of no significance whatsoever. However, just in case there’s more to it than meets the eye, we’ll examine a range of reports gleaned from the media. The quotes below are taken from online news articles. Longer excerpts are appended to the end of this post, with links to the sources.

First, let’s take a look at the setting for last night’s events.

According to the media, “Fort Sam Houston is a highly secure facility with guards posted at all vehicle entrances.” My curiosity was piqued by that statement, so I opened up Google Maps, located Fort Sam Houston, and dropped into Street View to see what the place looked like. Below are shots from July 2013 of the three principal entrances to Fort Sam Houston (which seems to be mostly a military cemetery), all taken from Harry Wurzbach Road in San Antonio:


Winans Road Entrance
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio


Entrance at Sam Houston Boulevard
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio


Entrance at Austin Loop
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio

Curiouser and curiouser! This is hardly a “highly secure facility with guards posted at all vehicle entrances”. It’s completely open; anyone can just drive in.

Something was amiss here. So I returned to the news stories, and learned that “[t]he 502nd Air Base Wing in San Antonio was closed off for four hours on Sunday”. I looked up 502nd Air Base Wing on Google maps, and it was a good fifteen miles from Fort Sam Houston, at Lackland Air Force Base.

Checking the Wikipedia entry on the 502nd Air Base Wing, I learned that it was part of the JBSA:

Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) is a United States military facility located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 502d Air Base Wing, Air Education and Training Command (AETC).

The facility is an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base, which were merged on 1 October 2010.

So it seems that “Fort Sam Houston” must be the catch-all name — probably because it was the first base in San Antonio — for all the different components of JBSA. Randolph AFB is about ten miles away from Fort Sam Houston, in the opposite direction from Lackland AFB.

And take note of this: “[502nd Air Base Wing spokesman Alex] Delgado declined to say exactly where he was stopped on the base, which covers about 3,000 acres.”

Hmm…

So where did last night’s intruder enter? Which base was he on?

As of late this afternoon, I still hadn’t figured that out. San Antonio people probably had a good idea — the rumor mill must have been turning down there all day — but an amateur armchair sleuth like me couldn’t get any farther.

As a matter of interest, here are the main entrances to the two big air bases:


Entrance, Randolph AFB, San Antonio
from Gordon A. Blake Highway


Entrance, Lackland AFB, San Antonio
from West Military Drive

My money was on Lackland, for reasons that I’ll explain below.

Last night’s events acquired new significance today when someone in the military leaked information (or passed on rumors, depending on your point of view) to KENS-TV:

According to Military Officials, the man that drove through the gate at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio was a Saudi National.

Military officials say explosive materials were reportedly found in his car.

The unidentified man was taken into custody and officials are still trying to determine his motive.

Military officials are not calling this an attempted terrorist attack.

Hmm again…

A Saudi national, explosives, but “not a terrorist” attack. And I’m sure the incident had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with Islam.

An IBTimes report, possibly cribbing from KENS-TV, reported that “A US army base in Texas was placed under lockdown after a Saudi man allegedly tried to access the facility in a car laden with explosives.”

The sheriff’s office was unable to supply any information, because it had not been involved — the military was handling all aspects of the case.

But everything changed later today. Military officials said the driver of the car was a “local college student” — no mention of “Saudi”. And they explicitly denied that any explosives had been found:

Two Joint Base San Antonio officials — Delgado and Todd White, director of public affairs — told the San Antonio Express-News Monday that officials did not find explosives or weapons in the man’s vehicle Sunday night, contrary to some media reports that indicated the man was a “Saudi national” with explosives in his car.

Reports also stated that “[t]he student was in military custody Monday, but no charges have been filed.”

Then tonight we learned this, which incidentally confirmed my suspicion that Lackland AFB was where the incident took place:

The college student who prompted a lockdown at Fort Sam Houston has been questioned and released.

[…]

Local military installations remained on heightened alert Monday. Officers with the San Antonio Police Department briefly directed traffic off Highway 90 near Lackland Air Force Base around noon, when a vehicle set off a security detector at one of Lackland’s gates.

The vehicle was stopped and searched by military security, who determined it posed no threat.

If the vehicle posed no threat, why did military installations remain on heightened alert? And what was that mischievous underclassman doing on the base anyway?

I doubt we’ll ever know the answer to these questions, any more than we learned what caused the Cedar-Riverside Explosion in Minneapolis on New Year’s Day.

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Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that Lackland AFB has been featured here at Gates of Vienna.

Back in 2011 I posted a couple of articles about a Muslim presenter who proselytized for a Turkish sect of Islam that anticipates the return of the Mahdi. His da’wa was directed at a captive audience of military personnel at Lackland Air Force Base, in a chapel that had been converted into a mosque.

That’s why I was betting on Lackland, which was my best guess before the most recent news article appeared and confirmed it. Something fishy is going on here. If there is any part of the JBSA where a young Saudi might drive in uninvited, Lackland seemed the obvious place.

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News articles:

From International Business Times:

Fort Sam Houston Terror Scare: Saudi Man ‘Driving Car Laden With Explosives’ Forces Base into Lockdown

A US army base in Texas was placed under lockdown after a Saudi man allegedly tried to access the facility in a car laden with explosives.

The 502nd Air Base Wing in San Antonio was closed off for four hours on Sunday [23 November] before officials deemed it safe to resume normal operations, a spokesman told KSAT-TV.

The lockdown was imposed at 1730 CST (2330 GMT) due a Saudi national allegedly driving a car towards the base. KENS-TV said it saw the driver try to pass through the perimeter gate without stopping.

Some US reports, citing military officials, said that the car contained explosive materials.

Military officials have yet to announce whether the driver is still in custody, and have not commented on whether charges will be, or have been, filed. The authorities have not called the event an act of terrorism.

The nearest civil law enforcement unit, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department, announced earlier on Twitter that the military police were handling the case and that it had no units assigned to the situation.

From KCEN-TV:

Saudi National Detained at Fort Sam Houston

According to Military Officials, the man that drove through the gate at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio was a Saudi National.

Military officials say explosive materials were reportedly found in his car.

The unidentified man was taken into custody and officials are still trying to determine his motive.

Military officials are not calling this an attempted terrorist attack.

[…]

KCEN’s sister station, KENS-TV reported that a driver was in custody after driving through a gate at the base without stopping, triggering a manhunt.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Department said on Twitter that the lockdown was being handled by military police, and the sheriff’s department had no units assigned to the case. The base public affairs office did not immediately respond to telephone and email requests for information.

Reports on Twitter said cars were being prevented from entering or leaving the base.

From KWTX:

College Student Held After Fort Sam Houston Lockdown

SAN ANTONIO (November 24, 2014) A college student has been detained after driving onto Fort Sam Houston over the weekend, causing a nearly four-hour lockdown.

Officials at the military installation in San Antonio said Monday they were investigating how the student’s private vehicle got through security late Sunday afternoon.

502nd Air Base Wing spokesman Alex Delgado said the male student is not in the service.

The vehicle did not contain any explosives or weapons, he said.

The driver was stopped by post officials, though Delgado declined to say exactly where he was stopped on the base, which covers about 3,000 acres.

The lockdown was lifted at around 9 p.m. Sunday.

The student was in military custody Monday, but no charges have been filed.

No details about the student were released.

From WHTC:

College Student in Custody After Texas Military Post Lockdown

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – A male college student has been taken into custody for driving an unauthorized vehicle onto San Antonio’s Fort Sam Houston on Sunday night, sparking a lockdown and a full security alert, officials said on Monday.

The San Antonio area man, who has not been identified, was alone in his car when military police pulled him over after a brief pursuit. He had no weapons or explosives in his vehicle, said Joint Base San Antonio spokesman Alex Delgado.

“He will remain in custody until the OSI (Office of Special Investigations) completes its investigation,” Delgado said, adding that no formal charges had yet been filed.

Fort Sam Houston, which sprawls across northeast San Antonio, includes the largest Department of Defense hospital in North America.

It is also the headquarters of several significant commands, including U.S. Army North, U.S. Army South, and the U.S. Army Installation Command.

[…]

Fort Sam Houston is a highly secure facility with guards posted at all vehicle entrances.

From mySanAntonio:

College student detained in Fort Sam Houston lockdown, had no explosives in car

SAN ANTONIO — Officials with Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston have detained a “local” college student following a lockdown at Fort Sam Houston on Sunday.

502nd Air Base Wing spokesman Alex Delgado said Monday that officials are not currently releasing the student’s name, race, age or other identifying information, but said he attends or attended a “local” college.

Two Joint Base San Antonio officials — Delgado and Todd White, director of public affairs — told the San Antonio Express-News Monday that officials did not find explosives or weapons in the man’s vehicle Sunday night, contrary to some media reports that indicated the man was a “Saudi national” with explosives in his car.

Todd White, director of public affairs with Joint Base San Antonio, said a suspicious vehicle was searched, but “there was nothing in it.”

White said he could not discuss details about the suspect while the incident remains under investigation.

Other outlets, including KCEN-TV in Central Texas, have reported the man is a Saudi national.

Both Delgado and White declined to confirm the man’s nationality.

The lockdown ran from 5:30 p.m. to around 9 p.m. Sunday night after a “suspicious vehicle” was reported to authorities.

From News 4 San Antonio:

The college student who prompted a lockdown at Fort Sam Houston has been questioned and released.

[…]

Local military installations remained on heightened alert Monday. Officers with the San Antonio Police Department briefly directed traffic off Highway 90 near Lackland Air Force Base around noon, when a vehicle set off a security detector at one of Lackland’s gates.

The vehicle was stopped and searched by military security, who determined it posed no threat.

Hat tip for the KCEN-TV link: Vlad Tepes.

5 thoughts on “Non-Terrorist Incident at Fort Sam Houston

  1. Baron,
    I have been mulling over the idea of creating
    a new TV detective series that combines the
    deductive powers of Sherlock Holmes with
    the police savvy of the wheelchair-bound detective
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironside_(1967_TV_series) .

    The hero — name to be determined — is a
    Stephen Hawking-like forensic genius who sits before
    his computer screen, solving crimes worldwide,
    much as depicted in this very article (which
    Hollywood will want to option for the pilot episode).

    Wheels within wheels: The “Turkish sect of
    Islam” you refer to turns out to be the Fethullah
    Guelen (L. Ron Hubbard-like?) organization that
    both the mahdist Dr. Tim Furnish and the
    journalist Steve Sailer have written about; see
    https://gatesofvienna.net/2011/08/proselytizing-for-the-mahdi-at-lackland-afb/

    (Woops, that should be not Fethullah Guelen,
    but Adnan Oktar, a.k.a. Harun Yahya; these are
    too many different characters for a pilot episode.
    But this also presents the opportunity for a spinoff
    series, like
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Secrets_of_the_Ya-Ya_Sisterhood_(film)
    in which Harun’s Yahya Sisterhood will be a
    Charlie’s Angels-like sorority of burqa-clad ninjas.)

  2. That former chapel is probably fortified and meant to serve the implacable enemy of the West.

    • And passed unnoticed? I’ve heard the one about “military intelligence” being an oxymoron (and don’t believe it, before anyone complains), but really, Goethe. Your namesake was cleverer than this.

  3. Far too many critical sites in America are “guarded” by nothing more than a no trespassing sign. The islamic state can Google these also, when they want to take out the grid,various radioactive facilities, chemical storage sites, biowar research sites etc.etc.etc.

  4. Arrggh, so confused! Saudi, not Saudi, college student, car with explosive, no explosives, released. Whew. Go back to sleep folks, nothing to see here, I guess.

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