Armed pair held at Central Command base

Macdill Air Force Base, Florida (CNN) -- One of two people who tried to enter MacDill Air Force Base with unauthorized weapons is an active duty military member on AWOL status, officials said.

The pair, a man and a woman, tried to enter the base using fraudulent identifications, Vice Commander Col. David Cohen said at a news conference Tuesday.

All gates at the base reopened Tuesday. They were temporarily closed after the heavily armed man and woman were taken into custody after trying to enter the facility without authorization.

The pair were stopped early Monday evening at a gate at the base, which houses the headquarters for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Senior Airman Katherine Holt said.

A search of the vehicle after they were detained revealed three handguns and three "rifle-style" weapons, Cohen said.

The investigation was ongoing, he said.

The incident was not being investigated as a terrorist threat, Cohen said.

Authorities described the man as a military member in his mid-20s. The female, also in her mid-20s, had no military connection, Cohen said.

Authorities cordoned off the pair's sport-utility vehicle and searched it using a robot, but no explosives were found. Video showed base personnel removing weapons, ammunition and military-style clothing from the vehicle, which was later towed away.

The Tampa, Florida, installation houses the headquarters of U.S.Central Command, which runs the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the U.S. Special Operations Command.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/15/florida.air.base.arrests/index.html?hpt=T2