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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Crash, shooting at NSA leaves one dead

Official says men in stolen car were wearing women’s clothes

In this image made from video and released by WJLA-TV, authorities investigate the scene of an accident near a gate to Fort Meade, Md., on Monday. (Associated Press)
Meredith Somers Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. – Two men dressed as women smashed a stolen car into a police vehicle after they disobeyed commands at the closely guarded gates of the National Security Agency on Monday, prompting police to open fire.

One of the men died, the other was injured and a police officer also was taken to a hospital. Details remained unclear hours later.

It was not known why the men wound up at the gate at Fort Meade, a sprawling military post that houses the National Security Agency, or why they did not obey orders from NSA police. Fort Meade is just off Interstate 295 between Baltimore and Washington.

The men were dressed as women, said a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing case. It also was unclear exactly what the men were wearing.

The NSA said in a news release that investigators have not yet determined how the man in the vehicle died, and the conditions of the wounded man and officer were not disclosed.

An agency officer gave the driver “routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus,” but the driver disobeyed them, the release said. The driver then accelerated toward a police vehicle blocking the road, and police then opened fire.

An FBI spokeswoman said earlier in the day that the incident was not believed to be linked to terrorism. The NSA said the incident was contained to the perimeter of the secure campus.

The car that rammed the police vehicle had been stolen Monday morning from a hotel in Jessup, Maryland, said Mary Phelan, a spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department. The FBI is investigating and working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted, FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson said in an email.

Fort Meade also is home to the Defense Information Systems Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command.