KENNER, La. (AP) – A man sprayed TSA agents in the face with wasp killer then swung a machete at guards before being shot several times at a security checkpoint in the New Orleans international airport Friday.
Richard White, 63, walked into a security checkpoint, pulled out a can of the insecticide and began spraying both agents and passengers standing in line, said Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand. He then pulled a machete from the waistband of his pants and began swinging it around him. A TSA agent blocked the machete with a piece of luggage as White ran through a metal detector, Normand said.
After running through the detector, White was chasing a female TSA agent when Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Lt. Heather Slyve drew her weapon. White continued to swing the machete as she approached, so she fired three rounds, striking him in the face, chest and leg, Normand said. A TSA agent was also struck in the arm by a bullet, he said.
White was still alive and in surgery at a hospital, Normand said.
A bystander was grazed by a bullet in the arm and others received minor cuts and bruises during the scramble to get out of the area, the sheriff said.