Mass shooting averted at Atlanta airport, police say

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By Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters) -A Georgia man was in custody on Tuesday after his arrest the previous day at Atlanta’s main airport with an assault rifle and a cache of ammunition following a tip from his family that he was planning to “shoot up” the terminal, police said.

Billy Joe Cagle, 49, of Cartersville, Georgia, about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, was arrested shortly before 10 a.m. on Monday when he was seen “checking out” the crowd at a bustling terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.

The airport is the world’s busiest. 

Cagle was stopped as he was heading back to his flatbed truck where police said he had an AR-15 assault rifle and ammunition. The truck was parked outside the terminal.

“We did have a tragedy averted,” Schierbaum said at a press conference on Monday. 

“I do believe he was headed back to his truck to retrieve the weapon,” Schierbaum said. “And he was likely to use that weapon inside the crowded terminal.”

Cagle’s family called police early on Monday, alerting them that he had posted on social media that he was headed to the airport and was “going to shoot it up,” Schierbaum said.

The family told authorities that Cagle was having a mental health crisis, police said. Cagle was already at the airport and looking around the terminal when police identified him by his photograph and arrested him, they said. 

The suspect was charged with making terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon. Police said he has a previous drug conviction.

Cagle was being held on Tuesday without bond at the Clayton County jail. His first court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday. No information on whether or not he has an attorney was immediately available.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Frank McGurty and Will Dunham)