“ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Cartersville man is facing several charges after law enforcement said he went to the world’s busiest airport on Monday to “shoot it up.”
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Billy Joe Cagle, 49, was arrested at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
At around 9:40 a.m., Cartersville police informed the Atlanta Police Department of a threat to the airport.”
Thank heavens his family contacted police. It’s also surprising that he was able to leave his vehicle unattended at the curb. And he left the rifle in it.
I am wondering whether anyone is trying to figure out what is going on in the US, hopefully without applying a bias up front before they start.
Some of these may be mental health related. This appears to be the case in today’s arrest. Some seem to be politically motivated. There might be an overlap between these two motivations in some cases. I have seen some stories about known terrorists being arrested who had been living in the US illegally.
To be fair however back when I lived in California, back in the 1970’s, I heard stories of people who were in the US illegally (most of whom were working a job and trying to make a living).
I remember back in the 1980’s when they were shutting down mental hospitals. I asked where the patients were going to go. The answers I got at the time did not make any sense to me.
It does seem like this sort of thing is way, way too common.
Can you imagine how difficult that decision to call authorities had to have been for the family? But to allow it to happen would have been worse. So glad they did the right thing.
Nope. It was RIGHT OUTSIDE the door at the curb. There are videos of the truck when spotted there (large flatbed with bales of hay. In this video, first you will see the truck by itself after all other vehicles around it at the airport were moved. Later in the video they have the truck shown in a red circle moving around other vehicles to get to the curb (when he had first arrived at the airport). He left the rifle and his dog (per a report) in the truck. Atlanta airport shooting attempt: Man arrested inside terminal, AR-15 in car | 11alive.com
Update: The local news just said that the truck was ticketed within 5 minutes of its having been left at the curb. I guess they didn’t look inside to see the rifle or the dog. They said protocol is that if the vehicle remains, they bring in a dog to check it and then have it towed. In this case they apparently identified it as Cagle’s vehicle so kept police around it in case he returned.