An aerial view of a shooting scene at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade in Maryland is pictured in this still image take from video, March 30, 2015. The incident left one person dead and another injured, CNN reported, citing Anne Arundel County Police.Reuters
A firefight erupted Monday when two men dressed as women tried to ram a car into a National Security Agency gate at Fort Meade, killing one of them and wounding the other, officials said.
An FBI spokeswoman said the incident was not believed to be linked to terrorism.
Two U.S. officials, citing preliminary reports, said the firefight ensued after the car tried to ram the gate. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing incident on the record.
NSA security personnel prevented the two men in the car from gaining access to Fort Meade, the post's garrison commander, Col. Brian Foley, said in a statement. Foley said one person was killed and the other wounded. The statement did not disclose the wounded man's condition.
A senior defence official said the two men were dressed as women. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing incident.
The NSA is headquartered on the sprawling Army installation near Baltimore.
FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson said in an email Monday that the shooting scene is contained. The agency is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted, she said.
Thoreson also said FBI agents are doing interviews with witnesses.
Local television showed two damaged vehicles near a gate and emergency workers loading an injured uniformed man into an ambulance. Aerial news images showed that one of the damaged vehicles was a white SUV marked "NSA Police." Its front end was crumpled, and the hood was up. The other was a dark, unmarked SUV.
A building on the NSA campus was damaged by gunfire earlier this month. Authorities captured a man March 3 who they believe fired that night on the NSA site, as well as earlier at several nearby places and two moving vehicles. The suspect in that case, Hong Young, told police he heard voices directing him to fire on one of the occupied vehicles.
The gate that serves as the NSA entrance is just off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, a scenic commuter route. In addition to the NSA, Fort Meade is home to the Defence Information Systems Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. About 11,000 military personnel and about 29,000 civilian employees work on the property.