Federal and local authorities say no charges will be filed after an investigation of a fatal shooting by National Security Agency police at Fort Meade in Maryland.
The U.S. Attorney's Office and Howard County police said Tuesday that they've completed investigations into the March 30 incident at a security gate outside the agency off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Authorities said 27-year-old Ricky Hall, who went by Mya, was killed and a passenger was wounded when police opened fire after the pair ignored orders to turn around their vehicle around.
According to investigators, the suspects stole the SUV from a man who picked them up for a motel "party."
The SUV's owner, a 60-year-old man from Baltimore, told police that he had picked up the two strangers in Baltimore. They arrived around 7:30 a.m. Monday to "party'' at the nearby Terrace Motel in Elkridge, Howard County Police said.
About an hour after checking in to a room, the SUV owner told police he went to the bathroom, and when he came out, the others were gone, along with his car keys. He called police to report the stolen car, and minutes later, just before 9 a.m., the suspects took a highway exit that leads directly to a restricted area at the NSA entrance at Fort Meade.
The FBI said Monday that agents do not believe terrorism was their motive. The timeline of events suggests the two may have simply taken a wrong turn while fleeing the motel, about 12 minutes away.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says video shows Hall ignoring officers' commands and "racing toward the officer who fired at the vehicle.'' He says officers committed no crimes and there's no basis for federal charges against the passenger. County police say they won't bring charges.
