Sunday 21 November 2021
Suspended operation
Shot at the airport causes panic in Atlanta
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Security guards in Atlanta encounter a prohibited item while checking baggage at the airport. When they open the bag, the gun discharges. Many people run away, including the checked passenger. Some fall and injure themselves, and operations are stopped for just under two hours.
At the international airport in the US metropolis of Atlanta, the unintentional unloading of a weapon caused panic among passengers and a temporary suspension of airport operations. After the loud shot on Saturday, many people ran away, some fell. According to the authorities, three people were injured in the incident, but no information was given about the nature of their injuries. Airport operations could be resumed after just under two hours.
“There is no active shooter,” said the administration of Hartfield-Jackson Airport in the online service Twitter. Rather, a weapon was accidentally loaded during the security check. “There is no danger to passengers and employees,” it said. The incident is now being investigated. The traffic safety authority TSA later announced that three people were injured in the incident. These were therefore not life-threatening, further details were not given.
Security guards noticed a “prohibited item” when checking baggage with X-rays, the TSA said. When a security officer opened the bag with the gun, “the passenger got into the bag and grabbed the firearm”. At that moment the gun discharged and the passenger subsequently fled the airport building. According to the airport administration, the authorities know the man’s identity.
Inconsistent legal situation
On video recordings that the US news broadcaster CNN showed, how many people in the airport building ducked or ran away after the loud shot. Some bumped into suitcases or posts while trying to escape. “Down! Down!” Can be heard on the recording.
Initially, a gun attack was suspected. A CNN reporter, whose plane was about to land in Atlanta, reported that the pilot had informed the passengers that there was an “active shooter” and that they were therefore not allowed to land. The police released airport operations in the afternoon just under two hours after the incident. The passengers had to undergo another security check.
In the state of Georgia, the capital of which is Atlanta, a controversial law from 2014 allows the use of legal weapons in public areas of airports as well as in schools, churches and bars. However, under federal law, it is illegal to bring a weapon into a TSA controlled area.
Since the beginning of the year, the TSA has discovered more than 450 weapons during the security checks at Atlanta airport alone. They are not allowed to be brought into the control areas in order to avoid “unnecessary risk at the control points”, as the TSA explains. Firearms may, however, be taken on air travel if they are unloaded, locked away in a solid container and officially declared.
The incident at the airport occurred on a particularly travel-intensive weekend. Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States on Thursday. Millions of people visit their loved ones on this occasion.
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