Men disguised as women shot near NSA gate at Fort Meade

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Men disguised as women shot near NSA gate at Fort Meade
A shooting broke out Monday after two men disguised as women in a car attempted to ram the security gate near the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade.

FORT MEADE, Md. (KABC) -- A shooting broke out Monday after two men disguised as women in a car attempted to ram the security gate near the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade.

The two men tried to infiltrate the Army base at shortly before 9 a.m., NSA officials said. The driver failed to listen to an NSA police officer's instructions to exit the campus.

The driver did not stop the car and barriers were deployed, officials said. The driver then accelerated toward an NSA police car that was blocking the road. The NSA officer shot at the vehicle, which then crashed into the police car.

One of the men was killed in the shooting. A senior paramedic at the scene said there was a wig next to the suspect's body.

The other man suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to a nearby hospital. The men have not been identified.

At least one security officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.

Officials say the initial investigation indicates that the two men were partying at a hotel in the area when they took a Ford Escape, owned by another person at the hotel, without permission. It is unclear how the men ended up at Fort Meade or why they attempted to ram the vehicle through the gate.

The NSA police, FBI, Army Criminal Investigation Command and local law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident. An FBI evidence team is testing the car for evidence of drugs.

FBI officials do not believe it is linked to terrorism.

President Obama has been briefed on the shooting, according to a White House official.

The NSA headquarters is located on the large Army base in between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C. About 11,000 military personnel and 29,000 civilian employees work on the property.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.