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A man has been arrested with a semi-automatic weapon atlantaThreatened to “shoot it up”, according to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Police,
Shortly before 10 a.m. local time on Monday, police found and detained 49-year-old Cartersville resident Billy Joe Cagle inside the bustling airport. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the busiest in the world, with more than 108 million passengers in 2024, according to a guess,
Kagal’s family had informed the authorities in the morning itself.
“The Cartersville Police Department was alerted by Mr. Cagle’s family that he was streaming on social media that he was headed to the Atlanta airport to, in his words, ‘shoot it,’ and the family said he had an assault rifle,” Atlanta Police Chief Darrin Schierbaum said at a news conference.
Cagle arrived at the airport’s South Terminal shortly before 9:30 a.m. and walked to the TSA security checkpoint.
“It seemed like they had a lot of interest in the TSA check-in area,” Shirbaum said, adding that “it was very heavily crowded.”
Cartersville Police notified Atlanta Police about the threat at 9:40 a.m., and they immediately found Cagle inside the South Terminal near the checkpoint area.
Video shared by Atlanta police showed officers confronting Cagle, who was unarmed. An officer asked Cagle why he was at the airport, and he said, “Oh, I’m just here. Why?”
The officer then asked what kind of car he drove. Authorities had set up a BOLO to search for his car, a white Chevrolet pickup truck parked outside the airport terminal.
Cagle claimed he was dropped off at the airport, and then the officer said, “Okay. We’re just watching. We just have a situation going on.”
Moments later, the officer went to arrest Cagle and told him, “Put your hands behind your back, sir.”
As the officer and another policeman pinned Cagle to the ground and handcuffed him, he began screaming loudly.
When officers looked at Cagle’s car, they said they found an AR-15 assault rifle in the back seat. Schierbaum said he found 27 rounds of ammunition with the gun.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said at the press conference, “This individual had a semi-automatic weapon and this individual was mentally disabled. And when you have those combinations put together, it can be lethal.”
Schierbaum called the situation a “tragedy averted.”
He said, “Today we are here to tell you about a success, not a tragedy, because a family saw something and said something.”
Cagle was charged with terroristic threats, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
It’s not clear whether Cagle has an attorney.
Operations at the airport have resumed and police say there is no active threat to the public.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem Responded to the incident late Monday afternoon.
“DHS is in communication with our interagency partners and will share more information as it becomes available.” Said“I am grateful this individual was taken into custody by law enforcement before anyone was harmed.”