Breaking: Shooting at NSA? Update: One in custody; Update: Not terror related?

For the second time in three years, police and media report a shooting incident at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. Details are sketchy at the moment, but Anne Arundel police and fire have closed down roads surrounding the campus while an investigation unfolds. CBS has dramatic helicopter video showing one vehicle with what looks like a bullet hole in the window. Later footage showed four bullet holes:

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The Baltimore Sun’s Sean Welsh has one of the first reports on the incident:

Police and fire crews are responding to “an incident” at the NSA campus at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, fire and transportation officials said.

The exact circumstances of the investigation were not clear. Anne Arundel County Police reported a “possible shooting near NSA” on Twitter, but said they are not the lead agency.

Fort Meade public affairs confirmed an incident is being investigated and didn’t have any other information at this time.

From the CBS video, it appears the incident is over, whatever it might have been. Other media outlets are reporting three injuries, but that of course remains unconfirmed. WUSA reports that the NSA itself will conduct the investigation, and has live video of the scene:

Almost three years ago, a strange attack on the facility’s front gate left one dead and two others wounded. The motive for that attempted breach of the perimeter never did get much public airing, but one would have to assume that it was more than just a lunatic if it involved three men, two of whom were in disguise. This appears similarly disquieting. The NSA is a military agency, and its compound is — obviously — a high-value asset which would get protected by deadly force. One would think the 2015 demonstration of how seriously the agency takes perimeter security would suffice, but here we are.

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The FBI has announced that they are looking into the shooting, and Donald Trump has been briefed on it as well. It may be quite a while before more is known about this incident, but we’ll update the post as developments warrant.

Update: The Associated Press reports only one injury — the perpetrator — and that he (or she) has been detained. The video clearly shows this, but the car attempted to ram the barricades, according to the AP report. That … really won’t work, folks.

Also, I’ve replaced the previous live video with a Facebook stream that works better.

Update: This CBS update doesn’t add much — it was already pretty clear that security shot the car up — but it does confirm that the suspect is alive at the moment and at a hospital. Despite earlier reports, it appears that he’s the only one injured.

Update: The NSA now says that the incident does not appear to be terror-related. Also, more than one person was transported to hospitals, but the injuries didn’t come from the gunfire:

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According to a law enforcement source, the SUV apparently tried to ram a security gate at an entrance to the NSA’s campus, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

Bullet holes were seen in the vehicle’s windshield, but two officials told CBS News that no one was hit by gunfire. One person was rushed to a hospital with injuries sustained from the crash. Two others who were in the vehicle were being held by authorities.

It’s not clear whether any weapons were in the vehicle, the officials said.

NSA police, the FBI and local law enforcement responded to the shooting, sources told CBS News. The situation was under control, and there was no ongoing threat, the NSA said in a statement.

That’s a curious string of circumstances. Other reports note that cars sometimes get off on the wrong off-ramp and have to be redirected back to the nearby highway, but it’s the second time in three years that a vehicle with multiple occupants has tried to breach the gate. The last time involved an attempted robbery; what was the motive this time?

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Beege Welborn 5:00 PM | December 24, 2024
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