Source: Ex-NYPD officer detained at KC airport
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - September 11, 2011
The official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity
because he wasn't authorized to share the details with the media,
said the man had worked for NYPD for a short period more than a
decade ago. The security scare happened Sunday morning on the 10th
anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The man was stopped about 9:30 a.m. at the Southwest Airlines
checkpoint at Kansas City International Airport. Transportation
security agents who detected suspicious items in his bag asked to
examine them, and he was detained when he refused, airline and law
enforcement officials said.
The suspicious items tested negative for explosive materials,
according to a statement from the Transportation Security
Administration. A bomb squad and bomb-sniffing dogs remained on the
scene Sunday afternoon, and passengers were being rescreened.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton declined to say what the man was
carrying, but she said the bomb squad used a high-pressure water
force to disrupt the package, allowing for evidence to be
preserved.
The man was the custody of airport security, she said.
TSA released a statement confirming the area around the
checkpoint was evacuated "out of an abundance of caution."
Several TSA officials did not respond to calls requesting more
details Sunday. Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation
Administration, referred questions to the TSA.
"It was chaos," said Jim Johnston, 56, an engineer from
Portland, Ore., who was on his way to Nashville, Tenn., for
business. "We weren't told anything except there was a scare. They
took us to a concourse that was under construction and we waited
there 10 to 15 minutes while they tried to figure out what they
were going to do with us."
The man was detained as ceremonies were going on nationwide in
remembrance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Four planes hijacked
by nineteen men crashed into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a
field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.
Early indications were that the incident did not appear to be
connected to terrorism, but the investigation was continuing and
there had been no official determination, according to a law
enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss
the ongoing probe.
The parking lot for the terminal where Southwest is located and
portions of the terminal that were closed reopened Sunday
afternoon, Patton said. Passengers at the busy airport had been
rerouted through one security checkpoint, creating long lines and
worries among some that they would miss their flights.
Other than delays caused by closing the checkpoint for a few
hours, no flights were affected, Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz
said.
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Associated Press writers Jeffrey McMurray in Chicago and Eileen
Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report.