3 injured after vehicle tries to enter NSA site

Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md.

An unauthorized vehicle tried to enter the secure campus of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade on Wednesday, sparking a confrontation that left three people injured, authorities said.

Gunshots were fired during the incident, but officials said they did not believe any of the injuries resulted from gunfire. Gordon Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore field office, would not give details about who opened fire but did say that, preliminarily, it looks like all gunfire was directed toward the vehicle.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Johnson said the FBI was still collecting evidence but believes it was an isolated incident.

“I cannot emphasize enough that we believe there is no indication that this has a nexus to terrorism,” Johnson told reporters gathered at a parking lot next to the National Cryptologic Museum.

Johnson said the three injured were the driver of the vehicle, an NSA police officer and a civilian onlooker. He would not give any details about how they were injured.

Two other people who were in the vehicle have been taken into custody and were being questioned, Johnson said. The injuries suffered by the police officer and the onlooker did not appear to be life-threatening, he said. He did not have any information about the driver’s injuries.

The incident began when the vehicle tried to enter the spy agency’s campus without authorization about 7 a.m., the NSA said in a statement. The statement said weapons were fired, but “preliminary reports do not presently indicate that there are injuries attributable to gunfire.”