Two people tried to ram their vehicle into the National Security Agency (NSA)'s entrance gates near Washington DC before guards shot one of them dead, officials said.
The two, who were dressed in women's clothes, tried to ram a sport utility vehicle into an entrance gate at the spy agency's Fort Meade, Maryland headquarters, a senior US official said.
Their motive was not known, but officials said there was no evidence the incident was linked to terrorism. One official said investigators were looking into whether drugs were involved.
Several federal law enforcement officials told reporters two people tried to ram the gate and then attempted a U-turn. NSA guards then began firing at the vehicle.
One of the vehicle’s occupants was killed and the other was seriously injured in the incident.
The NSA said in a statement that two people in a vehicle “attempted an unauthorised entry at a National Security Agency gate”.
The pair failed to follow a police officer’s directions to leave the gate area and barriers were put up.
The statement said that the vehicle accelerated toward an NSA police car blocking the road at the base gate about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Washington, prompting the offficers to start shooting.
“The shooting scene is contained and we do not believe it is related to terrorism,” the FBI said in a statement.
“We are investigating with NSA police and other law enforcement agencies.”
NBC News, quoting unnamed sources, said the two were driving a stolen car, and that a gun and drugs were found in the vehicle.
‘Heightened alert status’
In a statement to its workers, Fort Meade said two individuals “attempted to run the gate and were shot as a result”, adding that there was a “heightened alert status” at the US army base, which is about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Washington DC.
Television helicopter video footage showed two damaged vehicles outside the gates to the NSA headquarters, located just off a major highway linking Baltimore and Washington DC. The footage showed at least one person in uniform being wheeled to an ambulance.
One of the vehicles shown, a dark vehicle, had front-end damage.
An NSA spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
Reuters