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Man sprays wasp killer, wields machete at airport

Dozens of police vehicles surround the entrance to New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport after a machete-wielding man was shot by a TSA employee in Concourse B on Friday. (Associated Press)
Cain Burdeau Associated Press

KENNER, La. – 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 also was 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.

Brett Leonard, whose flight from San Francisco landed in New Orleans shortly before the attack, said passengers in the baggage claim area had no indication of what happened until they walked outside after picking up their bags. He said dozens of police cars were parked outside the terminal with lights flashing, and a nearby police officer told him that someone had attacked a TSA officer moments before. Leonard said he was put into a cab with several strangers as police tried to evacuate the area.

“It was just very confusing – we didn’t know what was going on. No alarm, no announcement, just word of mouth,” Leonard said.

Normand said investigators are still trying to determine what White was doing at the airport.

Authorities later found White’s car outside the terminal and were searching it, said police Col. John Fortunato.