Wild bodycam footage shows the moment police pounced on a man who had threatened to “shoot up” a busy airport.
Police were called to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday morning after the family of 49-year-old Billy Joe Cagle reported his erratic behavior.
They said, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darren Schierbaum, that Cagle had conducted a livestream online that morning where he said he was headed to the airport to “shoot it up.”
In the clip, officers identify the suspect using a photograph before asking him why he’s at the airport. They also ask the man what vehicle he drives. He says he was dropped off at the terminal. Unconvinced, the officers take him down and cuff him.
Schierbaum said investigators believe he was scouting a location for an attack.
The footage then shows a semi-automatic rifle being found in the back of his truck, which is parked outside the South Terminal.
Investigators said they believed he planned to return to his vehicle to collect his weapon when he was satisfied with his scouting mission, Schierbaum added.
“Twenty-seven or more lives could have been lost today,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.
Officials said the powerful weapon, a Springfield AR-15 assault rifle, was found alongside 27 rounds of ammunition.
Dickens added that Cagle, from Cartersville, was having a mental health crisis.
The Atlanta Police Department managed to apprehend Cagle just 15 minutes after receiving information from Cartersville law enforcement. Cagle had been on airport property for 25 minutes altogether.
Schierbaum referenced the tip-off from Cagle’s family. “Today is how it should work,” he said in a press conference. “Community, law enforcement, dedicated men and women wearing the uniform and trained to respond when their community needs them.”
He was 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 felon.
