The man suspected of discharging a firearm at an Atlanta airport nearly 2 weeks ago has turned himself in.
On November 20th, 42-year-old Kenny Wells had been waiting at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport. The TSA said in a statement that after an X-ray detected a prohibited item, a TSA officer, “advised the passenger not to touch the property, and as he opened the compartment containing the prohibited item, the passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed a firearm, at which point it discharged.”
The incident was described on some social media sites as an “accidental discharge.” But as a friend of ours said at the time, “Any gun can break, but “accidental” discharges are exceedingly rare. A better term is negligent discharge. He pulled the trigger.” (Said friend has been a gun enthusiast since the 90s and owned 26 firearms; he knows his stuff).
The gunshot, not surprisingly, caused pandemonium inside the airport, as well as a temporary ground stop of flights.
As crowds of panicked travelers evacuated ATL, Wells was able to blend in with the crowd and fled the airport. There had been a manhunt for him ever since, on multiple charges that included possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (As per police records, Wells, 42, was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon in 1997 and 2015, the latter of which caused him to be imprisoned for two years. He also has past charges of theft by taking, impersonating a police officer, impersonation and multiple traffic offenses).
Atlanta police knew the route Wells had taken to leave the airport. Three days after the event, while searching behind planters and garbage cans, they found a discarded gun in a trash can along the route he had taken.
However, the manhunt continued.
Ten days later, Wells turned himself in to authorities at the Clayton County Jail, Atlanta police announced in a news release.
He was booked without bond and faces charges of carrying a weapon at a commercial airport, reckless conduct, discharging a firearm on the property of another and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, police said.
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1 comment
No surprise they couldn’t find him that he had to turn himself in