A machete-wielding man armed with wasp spray tried attacking TSA agents at a New Orleans airport on Friday before he was shot by a lieutenant at the scene, CNN has learned.
The rampage began when 62-year-old Richard White barged through a security checkpoint at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and began spraying TSA agents and travelers, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.
White then produced a machete from his waistband and began chasing one of the agents through a metal detector as bystanders ducked for cover at the Concourse B security checkpoint.
Before White could injure anyone, Lieutenant Heather Slyve shot the suspect three times, the sheriff's office told CNN. White was taken to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery for wounds to the face, chest and thigh.
Investigators do not yet know why White, a taxi driver with a minor criminal past, was at the airport or why he allegedly launched the assault. A search of a bag White left in the security area found Molotov cocktails, according to ABC News. Smoke bombs and other weapons were found in the suspect's car.
"We don't know what the motivation is," Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told CNN. "It is still early. We're still running that out in order to try and determine anything about this particular individual."
The situation is not being considered a national security threat, Normand said.
A TSA agent and a bystander were hit by bullets when Slyve open fired but their woulds are said to be minor.
