ATLANTA – A police lieutenant was among three people stabbed by a knife-wielding woman inside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday, according to officials.
Video footage showed the menacing woman brandishing the weapon at approaching officers as travelers stood within feet of her, separated only by a glass partition. The suspect was later identified as 44-year-old Damaris Milton, WSBTV reported.
Police were called about 4:45 p.m. regarding a threatening woman armed with a knife outside the security checkpoint near the airport’s south terminal, where domestic flights occur.
Yes, and here is a better video of the lady with a knife, too! pic.twitter.com/lxC95JcZJI
— Mitch Jergensen (@MJergy) October 11, 2023
The stabbing spree began when Milton reportedly attacked her taxi cab driver as she arrived at the airport. Officers responded and tried to keep her contained in one area to “limit her movement.”
As responding officers made attempts to dialogue with Milton and directed her to drop the knife, she stabbed an airport clerk and a lieutenant with the Atlanta Police Department in the leg, authorities said.
Following the stabbings, Milton was tackled by another APD officer and taken into custody, the New York Post reported.
“It doesn’t appear that there’s a connection between her and them [victims], but that’s something we’ll be looking into,” said Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee.
“Charges are going to be filed at some point,” Chafee said as police are still piecing together what precipitated the crimes.
All three stabbing victims were transported to a Grady Memorial Hospital and are in stable condition. Each person is expected to recover from their wounds.
Additional video obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta showed travelers in line at the security gate kneeling down as the situation unfolded.
Sarah Nagem, a traveler from Raleigh, North Carolina, said she heard someone say “Get on the floor, get on the floor,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“They [airport staff] were trying to reassure us that, you know, we were safe, that it wasn’t someone trying to create violence randomly,” Nagem said, though she never saw the suspect.
Despite pandemonium at the scene, FAA officials said there were no cancellations or delayed flights at the airport.
