Machete-wielding New Orleans airport attacker has died

KENNER, La. (AP) -- A machete-wielding man who was shot during a bizarre rampage at New Orleans' international airport died Saturday afternoon, shortly after authorities revealed that he had also been carrying a bag of Molotov cocktails when the melee began.

Richard White, 63, had been shot Friday night as he chased an unarmed Transportation Security Administration agent through a concourse full of frightened travelers - and in the direction of a sheriff's deputy, who drew her gun and fired three times. He died at 4:02 p.m. Saturday.

Earlier, Sheriff Newell Normand said investigators discovered after the shooting that White had been carrying a bag loaded with Molotov cocktails: six Mason jars with cloth wicks soaked in gasoline.

The sheriff said White had a history of mental health problems but investigators were trying to determine the nature and extent of those problems. His family has been cooperating with the investigation.

The suspect was a Jehovah's Witness and has refused "certain types of medical care," Normand said.

"Fortunately, he didn't seriously injure anybody," Normand said.

Authorities also found smoke bombs and tanks of acetylene, Freon and oxygen in the trunk of his car, Normand said, but investigators didn't know what, if anything, White intended to do with the materials. Normand said White is believed to be a former taxi driver, but added that investigators are still examining a variety of sources and databases to obtain his employment and criminal history.

Normand said White sprayed the unarmed Transportation Security Administration agents and several passengers in line at the checkpoint with wasp killer. He then drew a large machete from the waistband of his pants. A male TSA agent blocked the machete with a piece of luggage as White ran through a metal detector.

White chased TSA agent Carroll Richel while swinging the machete. They were heading toward Lt. Heather Slyve of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, who drew her weapon and fired three times as White quickly gained ground on Richel, Normand said.

One bullet is believed to have gone through Richel's right upper arm and hit White. Richel credited Slyve with saving her life.

"Officer Slyve is my hero," Richel said.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said a review of security procedures will follow, adding that such is standard after any emergency.

Normand, Landrieu and TSA Acting Administrator Mel Carraway addressed reporters during a news conference at the airport, which is owned by the city of New Orleans but located in the city of Kenner in neighboring Jefferson Parish. They praised the work of TSA officials who helped usher passengers away from the unfolding danger, as well as the law enforcement officials providing security.

Normand said the situation could have been much worse.

"You know, sometimes, the saying: You'd rather be lucky than good. I think we were both last night to the nth degree," Normand said. "I think we did a lot of things right and positive and caused certain things to happen, but by the same token - one second here, one second there - it could have been a much different outcome."

Bystanders described minutes of panic and chaos at the airport in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner.

"Everyone was ducking for cover. It's New Orleans. I knew they (the gunshots) were coming from the security checkpoint area," said Garret Laborde, 31, a traveler trying to fly to Houston. "I immediately ducked down ... Then we waited."

He called the scene "instant chaos" with "screaming, lots of females screaming for a short period of time." Some bystanders ran to get out of the way and received minor cuts and bruises, the sheriff said.

Laborde said he remained down for several minutes. He said police then began rushing around the airport, telling everyone to duck and get back down, and that sirens went off and announcements could be heard for people to evacuate. He said the tension eased later and he was outside the airport when he saw a man being taken out on a stretcher.

Normand said investigators were trying to determine what White was doing at the airport. He said it did not appear that he was trying to get on a plane.

"At this point, we have only been able to determine that Richard White had a few minor arrests," said a sheriff's statement emailed early Saturday by agency spokesman Col. John N. Fortunato. He said authorities later found White's car outside the terminal and searched it.

Logan Tucker, 26, of Meridian, Mississippi, and Phillip Green, 33, of Houston, both headed to Houston for work as deckhands on a tugboat, said they were about 25 yards from where events unfolded.

"I heard the gunshots," Tucker said.

"It was pandemonium after that," Green said. "I took cover. I didn't want to become part of the story."

Green said they saw the machete and the suspect on the ground as they were leaving. The knife was about 14 inches long, he said.

He said he saw a TSA agent with an injury to her arm. "It was not something you expect in an airport, and I've traveled a lot," Tucker said.

But not all in the airport complex were aware of events.

Brett Leonard, whose flight from San Francisco landed in New Orleans shortly before the attack, said passengers in the baggage claim area had no indication of what happened until they walked outside after picking up their bags. He said dozens of police cars were parked outside the terminal with lights flashing, and a nearby police officer told him that someone had attacked a TSA officer moments before.

Leonard said he was put into a cab with several strangers as police tried to evacuate the area.

"It was just very confusing; we didn't know what was going on," Leonard said.

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