Eric Karns

FOLLOW-UP
Ok, so I’m not paranoid. I wrote to a local news organization yesterday asking them if they knew anything about yesterday’s mysterious, here-one-minute gone-the-next Supreme Court building evacuation story. And I received a response:

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Dear Eric,

Our Web site made the editorial decision to hold off from posting the story until we received more information. The situation lasted less than an hour, and the Supreme Court was not evacuated. Here is the information:

WASHINGTON (AP) - D.C. Firefighters have been dealing with a smoky situation at the Supreme Court, but the court has not been evacuated.

D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter says there was an electrical short in a sub-basement area just after 9 a.m. that created the smoke. But Etter says it did not extend to the upper floors. Etter says no one was injured, and things are operating as usual at the court.

A large tour group was getting ready to enter the building at the time of the incident when firefighters went into the building’s basement, which may have kept the tour group outside. (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Hope this helps!