The man, who Mayor Andre Dickens said had “mental challenges,” had 27 rounds of ammunition and a Springfield AR-15 rifle in his truck at the airport.
ATLANTA — A man with “mental challenges” was arrested after plotting to shoot up Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday morning, according to authorities.
The man, 49-year-old Billy Cagle of Cartersville, showed up to the airport just after 9 a.m. after Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said he livestreamed on social media that he had plans to go to the Atlanta airport to “shoot it up.”
Cagle’s family said they heard about the threats and immediately notified Cartersville Police, who authorities said has had past run-ins with Cagle, a previously convicted felon.
Cartersville Police immediately told Atlanta Police, who notified airport security and they immediately began searching for Cagle. His family told police he was driving a Chevrolet flatbed pickup truck, which authorities found parked right outside the airport at the S1 doors at the South Terminal.
Chief Schierbaum said that Cagle entered the airport at 9:31 a.m. after arriving at 9:29 a.m. and was appearing to scope out the South Terminal, housed solely for Delta Air Lines passengers.
Cartersville Police told Atlanta Police of the threat at 9:40 a.m.
Cagle was arrested inside the Atlanta airport South Terminal at 9:54 a.m.., Schierbaum said. He is being charged with terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Atlanta Police found Cagle’s vehicle with a Springfield AR-15 assault rifle and 27 rounds of ammunition inside the vehicle. Schierbaum said he that he believes Cagle was probing the terminal before going back to his vehicle to commit an act of mass murder.
Here is a photo of the AR-15 rifle recovered in his car, along with the Chevy flatbed truck he was driving, via the FBI:
PHOTOS: AR-15 found in truck of Cartersville man who police say planned to shoot up Atlanta airport
His family told Cartersville Police that he was going to somewhere in Atlanta with the “intention to inflict harm on as many people as he could,” according to police. Police credited the family’s actions of “seeing something and saying something” to prove crucial in stopping a horrible act of violence, as Chief Schierbaum called it a “tragedy averted.”
“Today is how it should work,” Schierbaum said. “Community, law enforcement, dedicated men and women wearing the uniform and trained to respond when their community needs them.”
Atlanta Police shared officers’ bodycam footage of Cagle’s arrival and arrest inside the South Terminal on Monday. In the video, you can see him walking through the airport terminal after parking just outside the covered terminal drive-through area.
He parked his white flatbed pickup truck in the first turn in spot, and then enters the crowded South Terminal in a blue polo shirt. Officers spotted him after they were notified and asked Cagle why he was there. He responded, “I’m just here, why?” After further questioning, police got Cagle on the ground and placed him under arrest.
Cagle was screaming inside the terminal as he was arrested. Schierbaum said he was checked out by EMS and did not have any injuries.
Officers then approached the vehicle he parked outside the terminal and recovered the AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition inside the vehicle.
The FBI is continuing to investigate the incident.