Authorities continued to search this Sunday for the passenger who accidentally detonated a firearm during a security check at Atlanta International Airport and who later fled with it, unleashing scenes of panic due to the uncertainty that it could be a shooting.
The passenger
was identified as Kenny Wells
, a 42-year-old convicted criminal, who is now under an arrest warrant for the events.
Kenny Wells, the man wanted for the accidental detonation of a firearm at the Atlanta airport, in an image provided by the city's Police Department.
The airport police commander, Major Reginald Moorman, explained that Wells was wanted on charges including carrying a concealed weapon at a commercial airport,
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
, discharge of a firearm and reckless behavior.
"We are actively pursuing this individual as we speak," Moorman said at a news conference Saturday night.
The events occurred around 1:30 pm (local time), when a security agent identified a prohibited item to carry on board an airplane at the moment in which a suitcase passed through the X-ray machine.
How did the events occur?
The officer in question asked him not to touch the luggage.
However, "while opening the compartment containing the prohibited object, the passenger approached the bag and took the gun, which at one point went off" accidentally, detailed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA, for its acronym in English).
Although
the Atlanta airport authorities were quick to clarify that the shot did not correspond to a shooting
, the detonation unleashed panic among the hundreds of passengers who were in the security control area, as shown by some on their social networks .
"A gun was accidentally fired in the security control area. There is no attacker," the airport explained through its Twitter account.
"There is no danger to passengers or employees," he added in another message.
Three people suffered minor injuries: one fell away from the checkpoint, and two others complained of shortness of breath.
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"
We were fortunate that when the firearm went off, no one was seriously injured,
" said Robert Spinden, TSA federal security director for Georgia.
Authorities did not immediately reveal what type of weapon was fired.
The incident also led authorities to suspend departures for a couple of hours.
The event occurred in the middle of the travel season for Thanksgiving holidays, one of the busiest times at airports in the United States.
With information from
The Associated Press
and
NBC News
