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By
Lori Aratani,
Bryan
Pietsch
washingtonpost.com
ATLANTA
- Police
are
looking
for a
man who
accidentally
discharged
a
firearm
at
Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta
International
Airport
on
Saturday
after he
grabbed
the gun
and
fled,
officials
said.
Flights
at the
airport
were
temporarily
halted
on
Saturday
after
the
firearm
was
discharged
at a
security
checkpoint,
causing
chaos at
the
nation’s
busiest
airport
and
raising
security
concerns
during
the
start of
a busy
week of
Thanksgiving
travel.
The
suspect
was
identified
by the
police
as Kenny
Wells,
42. Maj.
Reginald
Moorman,
head of
the
Atlanta
Police
Department’s
airport
precinct,
said at
a news
conference
that the
police
had
issued
an
arrest
warrant
and were
“actively
pursuing”
Wells, a
convicted
felon.
Moorman
declined
to
provide
details
about
Wells’s
criminal
history.
About
1:30
p.m.
Saturday,
a
Transportation
Security
Administration
officer
spotted
a
prohibited
item via
X-ray in
Wells’s
carry-on
bag, the
TSA
said.
The
officer
instructed
Wells
not to
touch
the
item,
officials
said,
but as
the
officer
moved to
open the
bag,
Wells
allegedly
lunged
and
grabbed
the
firearm,
which
went
off,
before
he fled.
Wells
faces
charges
of
carrying
a
concealed
weapon
at an
airport,
possession
of a
firearm
by a
convicted
felon,
discharging
a
firearm
and
reckless
conduct,
Moorman
said.
Officials
had
scrambled
to quell
concerns
of an
active
shooter
after
the
noise of
the
gunfire
had
created
what
airport
spokesman
Andrew
Gobeil
described
as a
“sense
of
chaos.”
Airport
and TSA
officials
initiated
a
“ground
stop,”
the
agency
said,
temporarily
halting
air
traffic
at the
airport
to allow
the
Atlanta
Police
Department
to
investigate.
Screening
resumed
about
3:20
p.m.
after
police
gave the
all-clear,
TSA
officials
said.
The
agency
said
early
reports
indicate
three
people
sustained
non-life-threatening
injuries.
The
TSA said
it
seized
391
firearms
at
Hartsfield-Jackson
airport
in the
first
nine
months
of 2021.
That was
up from
220 last
year
when
passenger
counts
were
down
significantly
because
of the
pandemic.
But it
also was
a big
jump
from
2019,
when 323
firearms
were
seized
in
Atlanta.
Across
the
nation,
the TSA
said, it
had
stopped
4,495
airline
passengers
from
carrying
firearms
onto
their
flights
by Oct.
3 of
this
year,
surpassing
the
previous
record
of 4,432
firearms
caught
at
checkpoints
in all
of 2019.
The
agency’s
news
release
last
month
noted
the
record
came
despite
a
continued
dip in
passengers
because
of the
pandemic.
Authorities
did not
offer an
explanation
or
theory
about
the
spike in
gun
seizures.
Hartsfield-Jackson
is one
of the
nation’s
busiest
airports,
though
other
U.S.
airports
rival
its
passenger
screening
numbers.
Dallas
Forth
Worth
International
Airport
was
second
on the
TSA’s
list,
with 232
firearms
seized
by Oct.
3.
The
airline
issued a
travel
waiver
to
assist
customers
affected
by the
incident.
“Delta
is
coordinating
with TSA
and
Atlanta
airport
officials
to
accommodate
customers
as
quickly
and
safely
as
possible,”
the
airline
said.
“We are
also
working
to
proactively
accommodate
customers
who may
have
missed a
flight.”
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