Man opens fire with AR-15 rifle at Houston airport checkpoint before turning gun on himself

reply to post by EvillerBob


According to this article he had a suicide note in his backpack.

Man shoots himself at Housten airport

As some other comments asked, how did this man get the gun in the airport?

reply to post by zombicide83


Simple, as I said a couple posts ago, there is zero screening prior to the checkpoint, except for check in luggage. He hadn't gone through the checkpoint, so no one had screened him. I could walk in with some pretty nasty things into the ticket area, and no one would have a clue I had them, until I used them.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I got you. I am sure if you wanted you could drop it in a golf club bag or some such, but to walk in with an Assault Rifle if it was not hidden and make it to the checkpoint is pretty shocking. How far is it from point of entry to where they are? I have only flown thru there.

reply to post by lynxpilot

The comments below the main article are nuts. Looks like the gun control crowd is out in full force.

Couldn't agree more, reading through them they are quite disgusting and intolerant, I had to stop myself, not from anger but from actual disbelief that the opinions of the few (Hollywood, media, current administration) are so easily able to persuade the the opinions of the masses (uniformed voter).

This one really bothers me:

PINKYFLOYD1 hour ago
If all AR-15 owners would turn the gun on themselves and pull the trigger, the world would be a better place.

Yet this kind of dialogue is completely acceptable within the anti-gun owner crowd.

How any human, regardless of race, creed, or political ideology can wish death and hatred against other humans and be met with high fives and applause is beyond me

reply to post by esdad71


Most of the airports I've been through, well under 100 yards. You come inside, the ticket counter is maybe 100 feet from the doors, and the checkpoint is beside, and slightly behind the ticket counter area (maybe another 50 feet or so). It wouldn't even take him a minute to walk in the doors and be at the checkpoint, depending on which terminal (I've only flown out of Houston once or twice, so I don't remember the exact layout). Bigger airports like Atlanta, you check in, then you go through security, and then you can catch a tram to the gate area, because they have five or six (or more) gate areas, but all the trains are in the secure area.

An earlier version of this thread topic was deleted. Is the subject back in play again and not a T&C violation after all?

While everyone on ATS is entitled to a opinion and even encouraged to espouse their views in a civilized manner, I find the OP's extreme opposition to firearms to be along the lines of pushing a agenda that borders on violating the T&C's.

Of course, that's just me. And I am not a lawyer...obviously.

This is a non story as far as I am concerned. With the exception of the poor guy’s family and those he scared/traumatized.

But I am sure that the OP will continue to push his/her beliefs upon the rest of us until we are all good little automatons like the OP thinks we should be.

Oh...and it was NBC that reported this? Figures.

He TOOK OUT an AR-15??

...THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why we should demand that the TSA perform cavity searches



disclaimer: this post was a poor attempt at humor and was not intended to offend anyone or excite
TSA employees

Originally posted by redoubt
Of course, then they would have cars and other things. But, we just have to stick to it. We know we can't blame people so... we just outlaw whatever we need to as we go.

Yep, now if only all those proven statistics of lower gun crime in nations where the laws were changed weren't getting in the way of all that pesky NRA propaganda

Australia implemented a gun ban, and the statistics (which are freely available and published) prove, irrefutably, that violent gun crime DROPPED.

Damn those facts!

reply to post by Zaphod58


I have carried firearms into many airports. You just need them to be cased. When you get to the checkin, you tell them you have a firearm, open it, show that it's not loaded, they band the case and put a red tag on it, voila!

So it's no problem to walk IN with one, as long as you don't try to carry it on. Checked luggage, no issue.

Originally posted by rival
He TOOK OUT an AR-15??

...THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why we should demand that the TSA perform cavity searches



disclaimer: this post was a poor attempt at humor and was not intended to offend anyone or excite TSA employees

Well, c'mon, everybody knows you need a twenty to thirty round magazine to kill oneself.

Back on topic, I'm curious as to what the suicide note says. I'm sure if it could be used to further a political agenda it will be put out. But if the guy lost his job or wife, we'll never know.

Originally posted by TDawgRex
But I am sure that the OP will continue to push his/her beliefs upon the rest of us until we are all good little automatons like the OP thinks we should be.

I love this attack mentality, it's a great attempt at trying to discredit, but it actually just makes you look desperate.

A difference of opinion is only an "agenda" when you disagree with it, right? You don't have an agenda to support gun ownership at all, right? It's not an agenda when it's something you agree with

I believe the ticket area is on the second level. A person has to do a bit of walking through the building to get there. Surprising no security noticed the man with a rifle. Must of been concealed very well.

reply to post by Rocker2013


Pretty much everyone has an agenda, agree with them or not. Currently my agenda is to brew a pot of decaf here shortly

reply to post by Rocker2013


My agenda is to support the Constitution of the United States.

This guy could have popped a bunch of pills or drank Drano in the airport. I don’t know his agenda. But I DO know the agenda of the news outlets that are reporting it.

reply to post by Bedlam


The only time I've ever seen it be a problem when checked in is when people forget to mention they're there.

Which an Army unit flying Northwest did one day (with their 24 rifles). Northwest told them they would be allowed to board the plane, but they were going to have to stand on the ramp guarding their bags, which would be loaded last, and only after they were loaded and the cargo door closed could they board the plane. I bet they never forgot again.

reply to post by roadgravel


Honolulu, where I worked for years had basically one LEO at the checkpoints (mostly to monitor the exits), one in each lobby to monitor up to five or six airlines, and a few hundred people during slow times, and roving patrols through the lobbies. It worked out to about once every fifteen minutes or so a patrol would walk through. From entrance to checkpoint was MAYBE 300 feet, probably not even that much.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Bedlam

 

The only time I've ever seen it be a problem when checked in is when people forget to mention they're there.

I generally call ahead of time AND make sure I mention it at the counter. It would be tough to just 'forget'. Maybe if you thought someone else was handling it, I could see that happening.

The CNN version.

CNN) -- A man was shot and killed Thursday in a pre-screening area at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, authorities said.

Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith told reporters that the man had just come through the doors in Terminal B when he fired at least one shot into the ceiling.

A Homeland Security Investigations agent was working in an office near the scene, came out and told the man to drop his weapon. The agent fired once at the suspect, who appeared to try to shoot himself at the same time.

An autopsy will determine whose bullet killed the man, who has not been identified, police said.

CNN affiliate KHOU reported the man walked into the terminal with a military-style, semiautomatic rifle and fired two shots into the ceiling.

www.cnn.com...

edit;

Wondering if the official line is preferred to not be a suicide.

reply to post by Bedlam


I've seen a staggering number of LEO calls because people didn't mention they were in there. One lady didn't realize she had to register it, because her father who had just passed away, had brought it back from Germany after WWII. Really nice condition Luger. The Sheriff told her he was going to have to confiscate it, and they would destroy it. Meanwhile I was standing there thinking "Yeah. Sure. Destroy it by putting it in your collection."