Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport narrowly avoided a mass shooting on Monday, thanks to family members who alerted authorities to the attempted shooter’s plans. Atlanta police arrested Billy Joe Cagle, of Cartersville, Georgia, before he was able to go through with it, likely saving several lives in the process, ABC7 News reports. When officers searched Cagle’s Chevrolet pickup truck outside the airport, they found a Springfield AR-15 rifle and 27 rounds of ammunition.
“The Cartersville Police Department was alerted by the family of Mr. Cagle that he was streaming on social media that he was headed to the Atlanta airport, in their words, to ‘shoot it up,’ and the family stated that he was in possession of an assault rifle,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a news conference, where he also said Cagle had a previous felony conviction. “We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something.”
According to Cartersville Police Captain Greg Sparacio, Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.” But while they were able to stop him before he actually hurt anyone, he came a lot closer than the folks who were flying that day probably would have liked. Surveillance video shows Cagle arriving at the airport at about 9:30 a.m. He then walked over to a TSA security checkpoint and, according to Schierbaum, had “high interest in that area.” If he had walked in shooting, things likely would have ended very differently, but instead, Atlanta police already had a photo of him provided by the family and were able to arrest him without incident.
Facing federal charges
Atlanta’s 11 Alive News also reports that Cagle is now in federal custody and faces a slew of federal charges, including making 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. According to Schierbaum, Atlanta police also plan to investigate where he got the rifle, “which he was not able to legally possess.”
“As alleged in this complaint, Cagle senselessly threatened to do heinous violence to innocent travelers, at the world’s busiest airport, with a high-powered weapon that he had no legal right to possess,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. “Thanks to the vigilance of other citizens and the quick action of law enforcement, a horrible tragedy was averted.”
“I know people are going to watch this and think differently, but as a person, he’s a good dude,” family friend Nick Roberts told WRDW, because that’s what they always say right after someone gets arrested for a serious crime. Roberts also claimed he’d called Cagle the day before his arrest after a social media post raised some concerns. “I was shocked, very shocked,” Roberts explained. “Because the way he left the conversation last night, I had no inclination that he was thinking of anything like this.”
And yet, despite what Republicans would love for you to believe, Cagle was not a member of TRANSTIFA. When Meidas Touch dug into his social media history, it found he regularly shared pro-Trump posts and defended his role in the January 6 insurrection attempt. Cagle also appeared to be a big fan of the Confederacy, even going as far as to share a post that claimed the Confederate flag is a Christian symbol. Other posts showed him to be a gun fanatic. You know, exactly the kind of person you would expect to attempt to shoot up an airport.
