The Atlanta Police Department arrested a man who intended to open fire at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday, the city’s police chief said.
Forty-nine-year-old Billy Cagle arrived at the airport just prior to 9:30 a.m. local time, Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a Monday press conference. Less than 10 minutes after he entered the South terminal, the Cartersville Police Department (CPD) alerted the Atlanta Police Department (APD) of a tip from Cagle’s family members.
Cagle, the family members said, had been streaming on social media that he was headed to the airport to, as they put it, “shoot it up.” The family also told Cartersville police that he was in possession of a semi-automatic rifle, Schierbaum noted.
Upon entering the airport, Schierbaum was “very interested” in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) check-in area. Just after 9:54 a.m., officers from APD’s airport division — with a photograph of the suspect and up-to-date information from their sergeant, who was in contact with CPD — took Cagle into custody at the TSA check-in.
Police then searched Cagle’s Chevrolet pickup truck, parked outside the airport, and found a Springfield AR-15 rifle with 27 rounds of ammunition.
“We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something,” Schierbaum said.
Schierbaum said that Cagle is charged with terrorist threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assaults, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. APD is working with Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley on the case.
Cartersville police Capt. Greg Sparacio said at the press conference that Cagle has a criminal history in the city, located just over an hour from the airport. He said that Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.”
Sparacio added that Cartersville investigators “quickly” determined what kind of vehicle Cagle was driving upon the department receiving the tip from his family and alerted APD..
“Today is how it should work: community, law enforcement, dedicated men and women wearing the uniform and trained to respond when their community needs them,” Schierbaum added.
In a Monday afternoon post on the social platform X, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her department “is in communication with our interagency partners” regarding the incident and she is “thankful this individual was taken into custody.”
