The FBI has identified the driver of a stolen SUV who was shot and killed after he rammed a security checkpoint at the sprawling National Security Agency (NSA) complex in Baltimore, MD. on Tuesday.
Police say Ricky “Mya” Shawatza Hall, 27, and another man, Kevin Lamont Fleming, 20, ‘partied’ at a motel with a 60-year-old man Monday night and into Tuesday morning, when, police say, the two men roared off in the Ford Escape SUV that the older man had driven to the motel.
Police did not say whether the men had sex with the 60-year-old unidentified man.
Employees at the motel told police the older man was a regular customer there. The SUV belonged to the older man’s wife.
Police say Hall and Fleming exited the busy Baltimore-Washington Parkway and drove onto the highly secured NSA complex by mistake shortly before 9 a.m.
Witnesses say the two men screamed as the SUV sped toward the security checkpoint. Hall, who was driving, refused police commands to stop. A 45-year-old officer opened fire, killing Hall and seriously injuring Fleming.
The SUV collided with a police vehicle that was blocking a road into the spy agency complex. An officer in the vehicle was injured. The officer and Fleming were transported to an area hospital.
Police say cocaine and alcohol may have played a role in Hall’s erratic behavior. Cocaine and a handgun were found in the SUV.
Both men were wearing wigs and other female attire. A black wig was strewn on the ground near a white sheet that covered Hall’s body.
Hall, who identified as a transsexual, lived with other transsexuals and transvestites in an abandoned brownstone in Baltimore.
Hall “was loved,” said his friend, Tyelil “Ty Ty” Ishway. “People was always there, and would be by her side.”
Ishway said Hall was “stubborn,” and “depressed” and had been behaving oddly in the months before his death.
Hall had a long criminal record that included arrests for prostitution, shoplifting, and robbery.
James Burrell Jr., who works for a transgender advocacy group in baltimore, said Hall distrusted the police. He said Hall may have panicked when he saw the police uniforms after he exited the highway and drove into the agency complex.
“When people realize that someone is transgender or either gay or lesbian, the treatment changes,” Burrell said, adding that they may have felt they were in danger and “decided to take off.”
The Baltimore Sun notes that signs are posted along the highway exit warning drivers that they are entering a restricted area.
