(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik). A police officer directs a vehicle to turn away at the National Security Agency, Monday, March 30, 2015, in Fort Meade, Md. Earlier, a firefight erupted when two men dressed as women tried to ram a car into a gate, killing one...
(AP Photo/WJLA-TV). In this image made from video and released by WJLA-TV, authorities investigate the scene of a accident near a gate to Fort Meade, Md., on Monday, March 30, 2015. A spokesman at Fort Meade says two people are being treated for injuri...
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik). ATF agents gather in a parking lot where media have been asked to gather, down the road from the entrance to Ft. Meade after a vehicle rammed a gate to the National Security Agency, Monday, March 30, 2015 in Fort Meade, Md. O...
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky). A Maryland State Police cruiser sits at a blocked southbound entrance on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway that accesses the National Security Agency, Monday, March 30, 2015, in Fort Meade, Md. A senior U.S. official says pr...
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky). A Maryland State Police cruiser sits at a blocked southbound entrance on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway that accesses the National Security Agency, Monday, March 30, 2015, in Fort Meade, Md. A spokeswoman at Fort Meade sa...
1 dead, 1 injured at incident at NSA headquarters
1 dead, 1 injured at incident at NSA headquarters
One person is dead and another is injured after a vehicle tried to ram the gate at Fort Meade, MD where the NSA is headquartered. The suspects were dressed as women and driving a stolen SUV.More >>One person is dead and another is injured after a vehicle tried to ram the gate at Fort Meade, MD where the NSA is headquartered. The suspects were dressed as women and driving a stolen SUV.More >>NSA: Car smashes into police vehicle at Fort Meade; 1 dead
NSA: Car smashes into police vehicle at Fort Meade; 1 dead
A spokeswoman at Fort Meade says two people have been injured near a gate to the National Security Agency.More >>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.More >>
Associated Press
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - Two cross-dressing men who were shot at by National Security Agency police when they disobeyed orders at a heavily guarded gate were driving a car they had just stolen from a man who picked them up to "party" in a nearby motel, police said.
One suspect was killed Monday and the other was injured, along with an NSA police officer.
The SUV's owner, who has not been publicly identified, arrived around 7:30 a.m. at the nearby Terrace Motel in Elkridge with the two suspects, both strangers he had picked up in Baltimore, according to Howard County police spokeswoman Mary Phelan.
Phelan told The Associated Press on Monday that she "can't confirm there was any sexual activity involved," and declined to elaborate on whether drugs or alcohol were part of their "party."
About an hour after checking in to a room, the SUV owner told police he went to the bathroom, and when he came out, the others were gone, along with his car keys. He called police to report the stolen car, and minutes later, just before 9 a.m., the men took a highway exit that leads directly to a restricted area at the NSA entrance at Fort Meade.
The FBI said Monday that agents do not believe terrorism was their motive. No one has explained yet why the men ended up outside the NSA. However, the new timeline suggests they may have simply taken a wrong turn while fleeing the motel, about 12 minutes away.
It's not uncommon for drivers to take the wrong exit and end up at the tightly secured gates of Fort Meade, which also is home to the Defense Information Systems Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. About 11,000 military personnel and about 29,000 civilian employees with security clearances work on the property.
Most drivers carefully follow the orders of heavily armed federal officers and turn around without getting into more trouble. In this case, authorities say the men ignored instructions on how to leave, and ended up stuck behind barriers. Police ordered them to stop, and then things escalated quickly.
"The driver failed to obey an NSA Police officer's routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus," Jonathan Freed, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement. The vehicle failed to stop, then "accelerated toward an NSA Police vehicle blocking the road. NSA Police fired at the vehicle when it refused to stop. The unauthorized vehicle crashed into the NSA Police vehicle."
The FBI declined to comment on the conditions of the surviving suspect and officer, except to say they were being treated at a local hospital. They also haven't said how the man driving the stolen car died.
It's not the first time someone has disobeyed orders at an NSA gate. In July, a man failed to obey an NSA officer's command to stop as he approached a checkpoint. That man drove away, injuring an NSA officer and nearly striking a barricade. He was later arrested and is awaiting trial on federal charges.
Jon Reinach, owner of Fort Meade Auto Center, is used to giving directions to people trying to figure out how to properly enter security. Truck drivers also sometimes drop off their assistants at his shop because they don't have proper identification. And when people get stuck at the wrong entrance, "usually they'll pull over to a waiting area and they usually do check out."
The FBI is investigating and working with the U.S. attorney's office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted.
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Amanda Lee Myers in Washington, David Dishneau in Hagerstown, Maryland and Juliet Linderman in Baltimore contributed to this report.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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