Shooting Leaves One Dead, One Hurt at NSA
March 30--One person is dead and another injured after they tried to ram a security gate Monday at Fort Meade, officials said.
Officials said two people in a car tried to crash the gate off I-295 near National Security Agency headquarters and a firefight ensued. One of two people in the car was killed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the incident by name.
An FBI official said "the shooting scene is contained and we do not believe it is related to terrorism."
A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama has been informed of the shooting "and will be updated as appropriate."
One person died after being shot by police. A firefighter at the scene said the person suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. That person was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
The firefighter said an officer was taken to Shock Trauma with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
He said the vehicle that attempted to crash the gate struck at least one police vehicle.
He said he saw a wig on the ground next to the vehicle at the scene. A senior defense officials said the people in the vehicle were men dressed as women.
NSA Police, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are investigating.
"Right now, we're responding and are on scene to assist," FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson said. "NSA is lead."
An evidence response team from the FBI field office in Baltimore is processing the crime scene, Thoreson said, and agents are interviewing witnesses.
She said the agency is working with the U.S Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine whether federal charges are warranted.
Fort Meade, a sprawling Army base in Anne Arundel County, is the state's largest workplace. In addition to NSA, it houses U.S. Cyber Command, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Defense Information School, the Defense Courier Service and elements of all the armed services.
A spokesman for the base said earlier that two people had been injured.
Anne Arundel County Fire Department crews responded to the area for the motor vehicle collision, a spokesperson said.
Anne Arundel County police referred questions to federal officials.
Local television broadcast footage showing two damaged vehicles near a gate and emergency workers loading an injured uniformed man into an ambulance. A white sheet covered what appeared to be a body.
The ramp from Interstate 295 South to NSA was closed.
The area was on alert in early March after a string of public shootings included shots fired at a building near NSA's campus.
A Beltsville man, 35, has been charged in connection with that shooting.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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