A gun-wielding woman burst into a North Carolina television station last night, forcing the evening newscast off the air, though no one was injured, the station said.

After a brief standoff with a police SWAT team that surrounded the building of ABC Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV, the woman was taken into custody. ABC News said she had pulled out a gun and put it to her head, though police later learned the gun was not loaded.

A CBS affiliate in Charlotte, WBTV, identified the woman as Wendy Naidas.

The station went black during the incident, which interrupted its 5:00 pm (2200 GMT), but was back on air an hour later. Employees were evacuated to the back section of a parking lot during the incident.

"Not on air. Distraught woman with gun in lobby. Police have building surrounded. Employees evacuated," WSOC-TV anchor Blair Miller said in a message on the Twitter microblog, from inside the station.

Police chief Rodney Monroe told WBTV that Naidas threatened the receptionist and herself while they were barricaded in the building. Although police initially said Naidas had fired at least one shot, Monroe later said no shots had been fired.

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