By That PAO Guy

UPDATE May 5, 2026 4:00 PM

The situation has been cleared.

According to reports, the distressed individual for which SWAT teams were called is being identified as a security officer working at the base.

“This person that we were looking for was an on-duty security officer for the base,” said Natick Police Chief Jim Hicks. “The officers were working to talk with him, to discuss with him what was going on. He fled the officers into an area of the base, where he was able to be contained.”

After several hours, the man surrendered to police and taken to a local hospital for evaluation. No injuries were reported.

According to police, the man only made threats against himself and never pointed a weapon at any of the officers or other employees at the facility.

No charges have been filed against the man at this time.

The U.S. Army’s Soldier Systems Center, also known as Natick Labs, in Natick, Massachusetts is under a shelter-in-place order May, 5, 2025.

The order was issued via the center’s Facebook page with a message that said, “THIS IS NOT A DRILL! A shelter-in-place order is now in effect for our installation, effective immediately.”

According to WCVB5, SWAT teams have been deployed to the installation around 9:15 this morning for a possible distressed person and at least one security guard has been evacuated for medical treatment.

The nearby Wilson Middle School and Bennett-Hemenway Elementary School have also been put in lockdown out of an abundance of caution.

“The Natick Police Department has advised us that the safety concern in the area of Wilson Middle School and Bennett-Hemenway Elementary School has been resolved. As a result, the secure hold at both Wilson Middle School and Bennett-Hemenway Elementary School has been lifted. Both schools have returned to normal operations. Dismissal and all after-school activities will proceed as planned,” Natick Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Melissa Spash said in a statement.

Natick Labs is the Defense Department’s facility for research and development for food, clothing, shelter, and other support items for the U.S. Army. The facility employs about 150 active-duty service members, 1,500 civil servants, and 200 contractors, according to its website.

This is a developing story.