Three people in an unauthorized vehicle attempted to get into the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters. Several people, including an attacker, were injured in a shooting.
Police in Fort Meade, Maryland responded to a shooting Wednesday morning. Photos emerged on social media showing a black SUV pinned behind a concrete barrier just outside of the NSA headquarters. The vehicle was surrounded by police and appeared to have gunshots in its front windshield. The FBI sent personnel to respond to the incident, FBI Baltimore said on Twitter.
An official NSA statement later reported that “shortly after 7:00am a vehicle attempted to enter [the] NSA’s secure campus in Ft. Meade, Maryland without authorization". It also assured that the incident was “under control” and that there was “no ongoing security or safety threat”.
It explained that “weapons were discharged in the course of the incident.”
Three people have been injured: an NSA office, a civilian onlooker and one of the people from the vehicle. They were taken to local hospitals. Two other men from the van were taken into custody.
FBI is presently leading the investigation.
Highway 32 was closed in both directions, local authorities said on Twitter. Drivers were advised to take alternate routes and “expect long delays.”
US President Donald Trump has been “briefed on the shooting,” AP reports, citing White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.
Meanwhile, federal officials stated that the situation does not appear to be “terrorist-related”. Local channel WTOP news reported that law enforcement agencies said that the vehicle was not targeting the NSA.
Spokesperson Lindsay Walkers offered her thoughts and prayers to those that were affected by the attack, the BBC mentioned.
It is not the first attack on the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. In 2015, one person was killed and two were injured after two men disguised as women rammed a stolen van into the gates of the agency.