Airport police: Man pulled knife
The Columbus Dispatch reported that ticket agents alerted police to the man after he tried to buy a ticket with a woman’s identification. Before that could be dealt with he left the ticket area and went back outside the airport to his SUV. It was parked illegally and police happened to be there with a tow truck driver they’d called to tow the SUV.
Initially, Airport Authority police said, the encounter was not unusual until suddenly the man pulled out a knife and lunged at the officer he was dealing with. That officer pulled his service weapon and fired and the man went down, but got back up.
He then went toward another officer who tried backing up but the man kept coming and the officer shot him multiple times, killing him. When police checked his belongings they found more knifes and other items which caused them to call in the bomb squad.
Witness: Man would not stop
Witnesses corroborated the events as described by police. One witness, Jim Shriner, the tow truck driver police had called to tow the illegally parked SUV, said it was inexplicable why the man continued to threaten and advance at police as he did.
“I don’t know how he thought it was going to end,” Shriner said. “I feel horrible that somebody lost their life. At the same time, the officer tells you to stop, it’s time to stop.
“He came at the officers, kept walking in a confrontational manner toward the officers, backed them up probably about 30 yards,” he added. “I don’t have any idea why it started, but it should have ended before it did.”
The bomb squad checked out the SUV and the items the man had possessed and did not find anything of concern. No one else was injured and police don’t know why the man acted as he did, nor did they say what items they found that prompted them to call the bomb squad.
They said there did not appear to be any connection to terrorism.
