A 63-year-old man was shot on Friday at a security checkpoint in the New Orleans international airport after he cut a guard with a machete and sprayed two others with wasp spray.
Richard White entered the airport and went through the Transportation Security Administration pre-check line where boarding passes are checked when he was confronted by one of the guards, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told a news conference outside the airport.
White responded by spraying the guard with wasp spray, then struck a female officer with a machete, cutting her right arm, Mr. Normand said. Mr. White sprayed the male officer again before a third officer shot him, striking him in the left chest, left thigh and left facial area, the sheriff said.
Mr. Normand said Mr. White was transferred to an area hospital but was “unresponsive”.
A bystander received a graze wound to the arm during the scramble to get out of the area and a few people received minor cuts from furniture, the sheriff said.
There was no information at this time of a connection between Mr. White and the airport, he said. “We don’t know if he was traveling. We’re still piecing together witness interviews.”
New Orleans Mayor Mitchell Joseph's tweet on the incident:
Update and full statement on tonight's incident at >@NO_Airport : >http://t.co/stf9N6dtDz>#NewOrleans>#NOLA
— Mitch Landrieu (@MayorLandrieu) >March 21, 2015Updates by the New Orleans Airport:
There was an incident at the Con. B checkpoint of Armstrong Airport. The location has been secured.We remain operational on Con. C & D.
— New Orleans Airport (@NO_Airport) >March 21, 2015
