Carol Richel, a T.S.A. supervisory officer who was wounded by a gunshot, appeared at Saturday’s news conference at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Credit Michael Democker/The Times-Picayune, via Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — The machete-wielding man who attacked officers at a security checkpoint at the New Orleans airport on Friday night and was shot by a sheriff’s deputy died on Saturday, law enforcement officials said.
The suspect, Richard White, 63, was declared dead at 4:02 p.m. Saturday, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators had hoped to question Mr. White to find out what set off his rampage, but he appeared to have died before law enforcement officials were able to speak with him.
At a news conference at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport earlier Saturday, Sheriff Newell Normand of Jefferson Parish described the early findings of the investigation of the episode, which began with Mr. White spraying several Transportation Security Administration officers with wasp spray and then swinging a machete at others. He was then shot at least three times by Lt. Heather Sylve of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said he was struck on the left side of his body, on his face, chest and thigh.
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The suspect, Richard White, was shot at the airport and died Saturday. Credit Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, via Reuters
Carol Richel, a T.S.A. supervisory officer, was wounded by one of the gunshots but appeared at Saturday’s news conference, showing a pink bandage around her upper arm and saying that she felt fine. No other officers or passengers were seriously wounded in the episode.
“We very much want the opportunity to talk to him,†Sheriff Normand said at the news conference, hours before the news came of Mr. White’s death.
Officials said that Mr. White appeared to have prepared for far wider carnage.
The sheriff said that Mr. White had dropped a shopping bag he was carrying when he began spraying insecticide on the first T.S.A. officer he encountered at the security gate. After arriving at the scene, investigators smelled gas, and they discovered inside the bag six half-pint jars filled with gasoline with cloth wicks stuffed into the tops. A gas lighter was also found in the bag, Sheriff Normand said.
Investigators searching Mr. White’s car, which had been left in front of the terminal, found several smoke bombs as well as oxygen, Freon and acetylene tanks.
The motive for the attack was unclear, Sheriff Normand said. He added that Mr. White’s wife and children had been “very cooperative†and had told the authorities that there was a “mental illness component†to his behavior. However, the sheriff said officials had not learned of any past episodes that might have hinted at an outburst of violence like the one Friday. Mr. White lived in Kenner, La., the New Orleans suburb where the airport is.
The sheriff praised the actions of the officers at the scene Friday night and expressed relief that things had not turned out far worse.
“Sometimes the saying is you’d rather be lucky than good,†he said. “I think we were both last night.â€
An earlier version of this article, using information from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, misspelled the given name of the T.S.A. officer who was wounded. It is Carol Richel, not Carroll.
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