Atlanta airport GM talks candidly about gun accidentally firing at security checkpoint
Atlanta airport's GM talks candidly about gun incident
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport General Manager Balram Bheodari talks candidly about an incident at a security checkpoint where a gun was discharged and the panic that followed. The things he hopes to address for any future security threat.
ATLANTA - The General Manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport briefed a security official from Washington about the gun incident that caused "panic" at the crowded checkpoint before Thanksgiving.
The top security official flew to Atlanta on Wednesday to get a firsthand account of the situation.
Hundreds of passengers, unsure whether there might be a bomb or an active shooter, left their luggage, purses, and shoes to flee the building.
MAN WHOSE GUN ACCIDENTALLY FIRED IN ATLANTA'S AIRPORT DENIED BOND
Atlanta police said 42-year-old Kenny Wells is in custody. Police said he fled the airport after a weapon was discharged at a checkpoint on November 20, 2021. (Atlanta Police Department)
Authorities said it was neither an explosion nor a shooter on the loose. Instead, they said, a man named Kenny Wells brought a backpack to the screening area.
The TSA clerk initially could not say that a weapon was inside. He pulled the piece of carry-on out of the machine. Wells was told to stay back but did not.
He lunged for the backpack, grabbed the weapon, and it discharged.
TSA screeners in adjacent aisles started running. So did the customers.
"It created a sense of panic," said Balram Bheodari.
Wells made it out of the airport on that November 20, Saturday afternoon.
With the authorities knowing his identity, Wells surrendered to authorities this week and is being held without bond in the Clayton County jail.
While many parts of the response worked correctly, said the general manager, he told members of the Atlanta City Council on Wednesday, "We have to figure out how to instill a sense of calm if we have another incident going forward"