An accidental weapon launch near the main movie theater area of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport caused widespread panic Saturday afternoon, causing departures to be halted for the duration of the weekend. Busy commute.
Airport officials said on Twitter that the shooting happened around 1:30 p.m. at the airport’s security checkpoint.
“There is no danger to passengers or staff,” the statement said, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.
An Atlanta police spokesman confirmed no injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
“There was an accidental shooting near the main security checkpoint,” Atlanta police, Sgt. Jarius Daugherty said. “Officers are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a ground stop was required for the airport for all departing flights, but was soon lifted. Airport officials immediately issued a statement “absolutely clear” and said the airport was back to normal.
Details of the weapon or the circumstances surrounding the accidental shooting have yet to be provided.
The shooting scare occurred as Thanksgiving travel time was underway. On Friday, the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.2 million airport arrivals around the country – the highest number of checkpoints in a single day since the pandemic began, according to a statement. member of the TSA.
WITNESS RECOUNT CHAOS AFTER SCARE
Witnesses described confusion and chaos as panic erupted at one of the world’s busiest airports.
Erika Zeidler, who was traveling from Atlanta to Anchorage, Alaska, said she was sitting in a restaurant in Concourse T when people started running down the hallway.
“We thought they were late for their flight, and then more and more people started running,” she told CNN’s Jim Acosta. “There were some people screaming and then someone stopped and said, ‘There’s a shooter, you need to go.'”
Zeidler and others took shelter in a TGI Fridays restaurant, she said. The photos she shared on Twitter show a crowd of people standing on the tarmac beneath a jetty as the incident unfolded.
Greg Romero was just taking a flight from Salt Lake City when he heard there was an emergency, he told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield. Romero, the father-in-law of CNN reporter Nadia Romero, said: “Airport staff “turned off all the escalators and cut off all passengers and turned off the trains”.
“At the moment, airport staff are doing a great job keeping everyone calm,” he added.
A few visitors were “a little panicked but more than disappointed,” Romero said. “They’re trying to catch flights, to get out of the airport. For the most part, people are just lining up against the walls.”
Dianne Callahan was traveling with her son and had just landed on a flight to New York when the cabin crew shut the door to board the plane. That’s when she said she heard screaming outside the plane. She also heard the whistle, Callahan said, but had no idea what was going on.
“It was an extremely stressful situation,” she said. “People were trying to get on a plane that wasn’t even on our flight. That’s how scared they are.”
Callahan and her son were later taken home through security, she said.
.
