Man Attacks TSA Agent With Machete And Is Then Shot At New Orleans International Airport
There was a wild and violent attack at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Friday evening when a man was shot after attacking a TSA agent with a machete.
According to WDSU, the man has been identified as 63-year-old Richard White, a taxi driver. White allegedly entered the airport and started wielding a machete and spraying aerosol wasp killer. He ended up being shot by a police officer after threatening more agents near an airport checkpoint.
Just witnessed craziest thing: dead body at #NewOrleans airport. Man stabbed 2 pple at security line shot by police pic.twitter.com/oFpOlcaTA9
— Farah Stockman (@fstockman) March 21, 2015
During the entire incident, the officer ended up firing three shots, one of which ended up grazing a bystander. Two other people, who were fleeing the scene, ended up with minor injuries, but nothing serious. A total of three TSA agents were injured during the confrontation with White, and the suspect ended up sustaining a total of three gunshot wounds. White was shot in the chest, thigh, and face, per NOLA. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did release a statement after everything calmed down a bit.
“At approximately 8:00 p.m. CDT, a female Supervisory Transportation Security Officer (STSO) at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was assaulted in the public area outside of Checkpoint B. The officer was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.”
Police have said that they do not know of any connection between White and anyone else in the airport. They also don’t believe that he was traveling to or from anywhere when he was in the terminal.
Witnesses say that White entered the airport and walked down the TSA pre-line where he came face-to-face with a TSA agent. The officer was scanning boarding passes but stopped to challenge White. It was then that the suspect pulled out the wasp killer and sprayed it into the face of the TSA agent.
White then continued on and confronted two other TSA agents — a male and a female. White sprayed the male in the face with the wasp killer and then struck the female agent with the machete which caused a cut on her upper right arm.
Richard White, man who attacked TSA agent, “unresponsive” after shot 3 times. http://t.co/5E4y5vPmYi (HT @fstockman) pic.twitter.com/SKlQXB6CfD
— New Orleans Advocate (@theadvocateno) March 21, 2015
It was then that the male TSA agent used a piece of luggage to defend himself, but White chased him through the metal detector. At that time, a police officer arrived and fired three shots which stopped White’s assault.
Flights at the affected concourse of New Orleans International Airport were redirected to other terminals. The TSA agents were treated for injuries as the police and EMTs tended to them and to the man, Richard White, who attacked them. White was taken to the hospital where he was said to be unresponsive.
[Image via WDSU]
