ARLINGTON, Va. - Authorities shut down major roads around the Pentagon after a man with a backpack was found in Arlington Cemetery early Friday and his 2011 Nissan was located in the bushes near the Pentagon's north parking lot off Route 27/Washington Boulevard. WTOP has learned bomb squad investigators are now searching the man's Fairfax County home.
The road closures created a traffic nightmare for commuters coming into D.C. and Arlington Friday morning.
"This is an unfolding situation," says James McJunkin, assistant director in charge at the FBI.
"We've closed all the areas around Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon that we feel need to be closed," McJunkin says.
"Traffic in the area is pretty messed up."
Police at Fort Myer found the man with a backpack in Arlington Cemetery early Friday. The cemetery was closed at the time. U.S. Park Police were called in to further investigate.
Suspicious items and products were found in the man's backpack, says Brenda Heck, special agent in charge of counterterrorism for the FBI's Washington Field Office.
But Hack says no suspicious device was found in the backpack. She says the backpack contained inert materials.
McJunkin says the man was "not very cooperative with his answers" when questioned by U.S. Park Police.
The fact the man was in the cemetery, combined with the backpack materials, prompted the situation to escalate and the roads to be shut down.
Based on the interview of the man, police believed they needed to look for a vehicle. Arlington Police located the vehicle -- a red 2011 Nissan -- off Washington Boulevard.
"At any time, if there is a vehicle parked off the roadway in the area of the Pentagon, we always consider it a suspicious vehicle," Arlington County Police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal told WTOP.
A source tells WTOP the man claimed to have explosives, and claimed to have left other items in the area. It's not clear whether any explosives were found.
