Police sealed off streets near the White House on Tuesday and deployed sharpshooters and armoured vehicles after a botched robbery at a downtown pharmacy. Rush-hour traffic came to a standstill after dozens of police officers and members of elite SWAT teams responded to reports of a possible hostage-taking at the Rite Aid pharmacy. Police said at least one gunman was believed to have entered the store but it was unclear how many people had been taken hostage.
Two female Rite Aid employees were ferried from the store in an armoured car about three hours after the stand-off with police began.
At least 30 police cars surrounded the scene and six streets were closed to traffic and pedestrians as hundreds of workers were kept from their offices in below freezing temperatures.
A police sniper was crouched behind newspaper boxes near the door after nine police officers in heavy body armour entered the building, weapons raised.
Earlier, a handful of people walked out of the store.
Police spokesman Junis Fletcher said that police had responded to a reports of a robbery and encountered a "possible hostage situation."
"There may be someone still inside," he said.
One woman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP she was in the store at the time of the incident but did not see the gunman. "I was standing at the counter. ... I thought it was unusual because no one was there," she said.
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