The passenger in the SUV that was fired on by police at the National Security Agency on Monday sustained a gunshot wound in the incident, an official confirmed Wednesday. There was still no word on the person's condition.
A spokeswoman for Fort Meade — which led the emergency medical response to the incident — said the passenger was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with a gunshot wound. A firefighter on the scene Monday said the passenger had been shot in the chest.
The NSA said Monday that an SUV drove off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and up a restricted entrance ramp, and the driver failed to obey "routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus."
The agency said the SUV accelerated toward an NSA Police vehicle, and officers opened fire. The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead on the scene.
The FBI has identified the driver as Ricky Shawatza Hall, 27, of Baltimore. Friends say and police records show that Hall identified as transsexual and went by Mya Hall.
Authorities have not named the passenger.
The NSA declined to comment Wednesday on the passenger's injuries. The agency referred questions to the FBI.
Officials have not announced the cause of Hall's death. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore referred all questions about Hall's autopsy to the FBI.
Amy J. Thoreson, an FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Friends in Baltimore's transgender community have questioned the NSA police response to the incident. They say police often discriminate against trans-identified people and Hall might have felt threatened during the confrontation.
Local police have said Hall and the passenger in the vehicle were picked up by a 60-year-old man in Baltimore and arrived with him at the Terrace Motel on U.S. 1 in Elkridge at about 7:30 a.m. Monday. The man told police the pair stole his car when he went to the bathroom. They arrived at the NSA gate shortly before 9 a.m.
Law enforcement officials believe the pair, who were initially described as men dressed as women, might simply have taken a wrong turn onto the restricted exit ramp that led them to the NSA gate where they were confronted by the officers.
They have said they do not suspect terrorism.
An officer who was injured during the confrontation was treated at a local hospital and released on Monday, officials have said.
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