Panic gripped travelers at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport on Saturday afternoon after a gun was accidentally discharged inside the airport. The incident briefly halted departing flights and caused travelers to flee and seek cover.
“I have no shoes at this point," said Anna Viettry, a San Diego resident. "I have my laptop and phone that came out but I was waiting for my bag.”
It was during a routine work trip that Viettry says she was caught in the middle of a chaotic scene at the Atlanta airport's TSA checkpoint.
"I thought it was someone that dropped a bin so I really didn't know until someone started yelling, ‘get down, leave,” said Viettry.
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At 1:30 Saturday afternoon security was inspecting a passenger’s bag when he found a loaded firearm. The passenger, identified as 42-year-old Kenny Wells, then lunged for the weapon accidentally discharging it before fleeing the airport.
"You see a lot of people just scrambling and wanting to know what they don't know," said Viettry. "It's so crazy to sense fear and no one actually knows what's happening."
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Sending hundreds running, scrambling, and seeking cover.
"Eventually we all come out of the departure and arrival area," said Viettry. "We come outside and I just find someone who is just really nice, she's Facetiming with her husband and so I just hang out with her. I have no shoes, my laptop, and my phone are with me.”
Viettry says she sat inside one of the airport’s parking structures for two hours until airport officials gave an all-clear and resumed normal operations around 3:30 p.m.
"It just brought me into the reality of what could happen and the risks associated with travel and just anywhere I go,” said Viettry.
As we head into one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, Viettry urges travelers to stay alert.
"It's nerve-wracking in general because you just don't know what people are bringing on,” said Viettry.
Kenny Wells is still on the run with multiple warrants for his arrest including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
