Federal prosecutors charged Billy Joe Cagle, the man accused of plotting a mass shooting at the Atlanta airport, on Tuesday.
Oct. 22 Federal prosecutors charged Billy Joe Cagle, the man accused of plotting a mass shooting at Atlanta airport, on Tuesday, as more information about the alleged crime became clear.
Cagle, 49, was arrested by police Monday inside the South Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. An AR-15-style assault rifle with 27 rounds of ammunition was found inside his parked pickup truck. Authorities said a family member had alerted officers to threats Cagle was allegedly making on social media, resulting in his apprehension by those searching for him within the major U.S. travel hub.
On Tuesday, he was charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempted violence at an international airport, interstate communication containing a threat to injure and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg alleged in a statement that Cagle on Monday had threatened to « shoot up the airport » in a FaceTime call with an unidentified person.
« I’m at the airport, and I’m gonna go rat-a-tat-tat », Cagle allegedly said in the call.
Following the call, the unidentified person on the other end drove to the police station in Cartersville, located about 45 miles north of Atlanta, and reported the threat, according to federal prosecutors.
