Two Men Disguised as Women Tried To Break Into NSA Headquarters Monday Morning

A shooting broke out in front of the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, Monday morning. Around 9:30 AM, two men dressed as women rammed the gate of the Maryland facility, with some reports suggesting the vehicle was a stolen Ford Escape.The FBI had arrived by 10 AM, but there are still few details about what happened—apart from the fact that two people were shot and one was killed by NSA cops.

Curiously, one federal official told CBS News that cocaine was found on the scene.

Fort Meade is a US Army installation that, in addition to housing everybody's favorite spy agency, serves as host to the Defense Information School, the United States Cyber Command, and the military band. It's Maryland's largest single employer, according to its website—about 56,000 people work there. It refers to itself as "the nation's preeminent center for information, intelligence and cyber."

Despite the large number of military and security experts who work at the facility, this is actually the second shooting there this month. On March 3, police arrested a 35-year-old former prison guard named Hong Young for a series of shootings in the Washington, DC, area, including one near the NSA HQ at Fort Meade. His motives are still unclear. "This guy apparently has some . . .issue going on that our detectives continue to follow up on to see exactly what's going on with him," T.J. Smith, Anne Arundel County Police spokesman, told the Washington Post of Young. The attacks, it seems, were at random.

Likewise, the FBI doesn't seem to think today's incident was a terrorist attack. "The shooting scene is contained, and we do not believe it is related to terrorism," the agency said in a statement. "We are working with the US Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted."

A spokesperson from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department told the Washington Post that they couldn't release any information beyond the fact that they sent units to the location (because the shooting happened on the NSA property). Local police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Although the names of the two men haven't been released, the fact that they were apparently cross-dressing dudes holding cocaine hints at a fascinating backstory. The FBI is currently conducting interviews with witnesses, which means more details should emerge shortly. We'll update this post as the story develops.

UPDATE:

From Jonathan Freed, NSA Director for Strategic Communications:

Shortly before 9:00 AM today, a vehicle containing two individuals attempted an unauthorized entry at a National Security Agency gate. The driver failed to obey an NSA Police officer's routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus. The vehicle failed to stop and barriers were deployed.

The vehicle 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.

One of the unauthorized vehicle's occupants died on the scene. The cause of death has not been determined. The other occupant was injured and taken to a local hospital.

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