Woman detained after shooting outside CIA headquarters

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Headquarters, is seen from a commercial airliner as it files over the CIA campus in Langley, Va., July 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON - Security guards opened fire on a woman who drove toward the gates of the CIA’s headquarters near Washington, D.C., on Thursday, ignoring orders to stop, and she was then taken into custody, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a check of public records showed the suspect, identified as a young U.S. citizen, had a history of driving under the influence.

A CIA spokesperson said earlier that security staff “engaged a person” outside the main gates and then arrested the suspect.

The spokesperson declined to say whether gunfire struck the suspect.

The source familiar with the matter also did not say whether the woman was hit but that she was in stable condition after the incident, which occurred at around 4 a.m. (0800 GMT).

NBC News reported earlier that the suspect was shot, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

The woman drove into the main entrance through the outbound lane, and when security guards tried to stop her she evaded them and continued toward the gate, drawing their fire, the source told Reuters.

The vehicle never entered the CIA compound, and no security officers were hurt, according to the source.

The FBI was investigating the incident, the source said.

The CIA closed the main gate at its Langley compound and directed employees to seek alternate routes.

The shooting incident came after two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed by a lone gunman in downtown Washington on Wednesday night.

The source said there was no sign of a connection between the two incidents.

There have been other shootings over the years at or near the CIA compound.

In May 2021, a man was shot by the FBI outside CIA headquarters when he got out of his car with a weapon after an hours-long standoff. He later died in hospital and was subsequently identified as Roy Gordon Cole. News reports said he was shot after getting out of his car brandishing a sword and that he had a history of apparent mental illness.

In 1993 a Pakistani man angered by CIA involvement in Muslim countries killed two CIA employees outside the agency’s headquarters. Mir Aimal Kasi was eventually executed in Virginia in 2002 after being captured by the FBI in Pakistan in 1997.

By Jonathan Landay

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Erin Banco, Doina Chiacu abd David Brunnstrom; Writing by Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Brendan O’Brien, Lisa Shumaker and Alistair Bell)