A man armed with a machete and wasp spray attacked TSA agents Friday before being shot three times by a sheriff’s deputy, authorities said. The alleged attacker remained in surgery late Friday night.
The attacker, identified as 63-year-old taxi driver Richard White, sprayed several people with wasp spray and slashed a TSA agent in the arm with a machete at a security check point, Col. John Fortunato of the Parish Sheriff's Department told BuzzFeed News.
One TSA agent was able to fend off the machete attack with a piece of luggage before White gave chase. A Parish Sheriff's deputy intercepted the chase opened fire, hitting White three times, authorities said.
White was unresponsive after the shooting and taken to a nearby hospital, where as of 10:30 p.m. local time, he was alive and in surgery.
In total, four people were transported to the hospital, including White. The three other patients were listed in fair to good condition, officials said.
Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told reporters that White's vehicle had been located parked near the airport was being evaluated by a bomb squad "out of an abundance of caution."
Several passengers told BuzzFeed News that the shooting sent passengers rushing toward the exits as the airport was placed on temporary lockdown.
"I just got my bag and all of a sudden a bunch of people started running out of the airport," Mya LaGrange told BuzzFeed News. "Everybody was frazzled. There was a bunch of police."
The incident appeared to have occurred at about 7:45 p.m., she said. About 10 minutes later, an ambulance was seen in the area.
The airport, including pending flights, was shut down for less than 20 minutes, Normand said.
Machete-Wielding Man Shot After Attacking TSA Agent At New Orleans Airport
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