A person with a gun attempted to enter Boston City Hall on Wednesday afternoon, prompting a police investigation and briefly disrupting a City Council meeting.

Sgt. Det. John Boyle, chief spokesman for Boston Police, said a man and a woman, one of whom “was in possession of a firearm,” tried to gain entry to the building at noon.

The armed individual did not make it past the security checkpoint, the city’s Chief People Officer Alex Lawrence wrote in an email to city employees, obtained by the Herald.

“They both fled the area,” Boyle said. “It’s an active investigation. We haven’t recovered the firearm and no arrests have been made.”

Boyle said it wasn’t clear what part of the building the two people tried to enter, referencing a police report that was still being compiled as of 4 p.m. Security checkpoints are located at the front entrance on the third floor and back entrance on the first floor.

The incident occurred at the outset of the weekly City Council meeting, which begins each Wednesday at noon.

City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune addressed the matter a little over 50 minutes into the meeting, before calling for a brief recess in Council activity.

“Everyone is OK,” Louijeune assured those present in the fifth-floor Iannella Chamber. “Everyone is fine. We have a security protocol that we follow.”

In her email to employees, Lawrence said Municipal Protective Services, the name for city building security officers, and Boston Police “responded immediately and ensured that the individual with the firearm did not make it past the security checkpoint.”

When the woman was going through security check with the man, she put a gun on the table or in a bin, when emptying out the contents of her purse, Councilor-at-Large Erin Murphy told the Herald.

“She did this as if she did not realize it was in there,” Murphy said. “Upon realizing what she did, she quickly grabbed it and handed it off to the man and they exited the building.”

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In calling for a “quick recess,” Louijeune said nobody present in the Chamber had to leave, and after a few minutes of private conversation, she called the meeting back to order, and addressed the building security officers’ response to the incident.

“I want to thank our municipal police officers for all they do to keep us safe — for everything they do in this building to keep us safe,” Louijeune said.

The Herald was told some councilors were not aware of what had occurred in the building when Louijeune called for a recess without stating what the pause was for. Several city councilors also appeared to receive text messages, but the content was not shared.

It’s not common for Louijeune to thank municipal officers or Boston Police assigned to the building during the meeting, which prompted a few raised eyebrows among the unsuspecting councilors, particularly when she did not share details of the incident that prompted her remarks, the Herald was told.

“People from outside the meeting were texting me asking if everything was OK, and I was not aware of anything,” Murphy said. “I was not informed by the City Council staff what had happened. I felt safe because I didn’t know what was going on.”

She praised the police response.

Councilor Ed Flynn called the day’s incident “disturbing,” and used it as an example of why the City Council should not make cuts to the police budget. The body voted to cut millions from the police department last year and has raised criticism of ShotSpotter technology.

“It’s disturbing to know of this significant public safety issue,” Flynn said. “I do want to acknowledge the response and professionalism of the Boston Municipal Police and the Boston Police as well. Now is not the time to defund the police or cut technology that helps keep us safe as well.”