A felon awaiting a security check at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport reached in his bag on Saturday afternoon and allegedly fired his gun, then fled the scene.
Reuters reports that the gun was allegedly fired “by accident,” and resulted in a stoppage in flights.
Passengers also ran onto the tarmac in an effort to flee the airport.
A TSA official said no one was shot.
“We were fortunate that when the firearm went off, no one was seriously injured,” Robert Spinden, the TSA’s director of federal security for Georgia, said at the airport briefing. Officials didn’t immediately disclose the type of weapon involved.
The Associated Press notes the would-be passenger fled the airport but was identified by police as 42-year-old Kenny Wells.
In this undated booking photo provided by the Atlanta Police Department is suspect Kenny Wells. Authorities say a passenger awaiting a bag search at the Atlanta airport’s main security checkpoint reached into the bag and grabbed a firearm, and it went off, causing chaos among travelers and prompting a temporary FAA ground stop on flights Saturday afternoon, Nov. 20, 2021, officials said. Police said later Saturday evening that they had identified the passenger as a 42-year-old convicted felon, Wells, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. (Atlanta Police Department via AP)
Wells is a felon.
Hartsfield-Jackson airport police’s Maj. Reginald Moorman indicated Wells is being sought “including carrying a concealed weapon at a commercial airport, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharging a firearm and reckless conduct.”
Three people were injured in the incident, but none of the injuries were from being shot. (One injury was an individual “who fell in the airport’s atrium area.”)
After Atlanta police gave the all-clear normal operations resumed at the airport before 3:30 p.m. TSA said all passengers had to be re-screened.
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