Depends what they did by “trying to enter the base”, if they drove up to the guard to ask for directions its one thing. If they drove up and then tried to gain entry fraudently its another. If they tried to drive through the gate they most likely would have been shot.
My guess is they drove up to ask for directions and the gate guard saw indications of firearms through the window and searched the car.
I really do hope you are proven correct in your theory - we don’t need any more cases of “home grown” terrorism
....my own limited USAF “securty” days goes back to 4 years on a SAC base mid-1960s (B52’s loaded w/ nukes for 15 minute launch)....
...anyone that happened to show up at the gate (by mistake) then was not subjected to this - but those was pre-islamic terrorism days