Suspect in Custody After Shots Fired Near US National Security Agency

One person was injured and police are investigating after a shooting at a security gate to the NSA campus at Fort Meade, Maryland, officials said.

The injured person was taken to a hospital, Fort Meade officials said. The incident took place around 7:30 a.m. ET at the Canine Road gate, where authorities surrounded a handcuffed man after a black SUV ran into a concrete barrier.

Local radio station WBAL first reported that three people had been struck by bullets. That number decreased as investigators worked through the morning and so far only one casualty has been confirmed.

The SUV believed to have crashed into a barrier had bullet holes through its windshield and was at the end of a dead-end lane marked by concrete NSA-stamped barricade blocks on one side and a chain-link fence on the other, near a toll-booth-style entrance gate, video from CBS video shows.

“NSA police and local law enforcement are addressing an incident that took place this morning at one of NSA’s security vehicle entry gates, an NSA spokesperson said. “The situation is under control and there’s no ongoing security or safety threat.”

The FBI tweeted that “the incident at Fort Meade has been contained.”

NBC Washington reports that the NSA’s presence is clearly visible in the area, with large satellite dishes and glass and steel buildings rising from the tree line. Chain link fences marked with restricted access signs and topped with barbed wire run along the perimeter of the campus.

Posted signs inform drivers of various exits for the NSA and Fort Meade, including one for deliveries, another for the visitors center and one designated only for employees.

A White House spokeswoman said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected. We will continue to provide updates as they become available,” the White House said in a statement.

The FBI tweeted it “is aware of the incident at Fort Meade” and is sending personnel to the scene.

The incident bears similarities to a 2015 incident in which a 27-year-old transgender woman who went by the name Mya was killed, and a passenger was wounded, when police opened fire after the pair tried to gain unauthorized entry at an NSA gate at Fort Meade.

In that incident, the driver ignored commands to stop, the NSA said, and barriers were deployed.

The vehicle accelerated, the NSA said, and agency police opened fire. The vehicle crashed into a police vehicle.

One of the vehicle’s occupants died at the scene, the NSA said. The other was taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a firefighter who was at the scene.