Suspected intruder dies after being shot by FBI agents outside CIA headquarters

Ken Dilanian and Michael Kosnar and Pete Williams and Jonathan Dienst
Updated ·2 min read

WASHINGTON — The man who tried to drive into CIA headquarters in Virginia on Monday has died of his injuries after he was shot by FBI agents who opened fire after he left his car brandishing a sword, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.

The man, Roy Gordon Cole, was known to the CIA because he had tried to drive into its heavily guarded facility before, officials said, adding that there were questions about his mental state.

Two law enforcement officials said he approached the main gate of the CIA campus in Langley on Monday afternoon and was stopped by armed guards who operate entrance and exit gates.

CIA security officers had been negotiating with Cole, and, after he repeatedly refused to move, at some point a decision was made to try to push the car out of the way, officials said.

A short time later, he got out of the car brandishing a sword, officials said, prompting FBI agents to open fire about 6 p.m.

Cole was pronounced dead at a hospital, the FBI said. Officials said no explosives were found.

A senior law enforcement official had said Tuesday that FBI agents opened fire after the man stepped out of his car and said he had a bomb. But another law enforcement official offered a slightly different explanation later Tuesday, saying the man had earlier claimed he had a bomb but the reason the agents opened fire was because he was brandishing a sword.

Law enforcement officials had also previously said that the suspect was carrying a gun, but the senior official said Tuesday that information was not correct.

The FBI said in a statement that it will review the circumstances of the shooting.

"The FBI reviews every shooting incident involving an FBI special agent," the statement said. "The review will carefully examine the circumstances of the shooting and collect all relevant evidence from the scene. As the review remains ongoing, we cannot provide any additional details at this time."

Security around the CIA is taken especially seriously because, in 1993, a Pakistani national killed two CIA employees in their cars and wounded three others as they were waiting at a stoplight near the main entrance. The man, Mir Aimal Kasi, also known as Mir Aimal Kansi, fled and was at large for four years before he was arrested, returned to the U.S., tried and convicted. He was executed in 2002.

In April, a U.S. Capitol Police officer was killed and another was injured when a person rammed a barrier.