KENNER, La. — The machete-wielding man who was shot at the New Orleans international airport after trying to attack passengers and security agents died of his wounds Saturday, authorities said.
Sheriff Newell Normand said suspect Richard White, 63, died at the hospital where he was taken after the Friday shooting. Normand said White had refused unspecified medical treatments because he was a Jehovah’s Witness.
Normand also said Saturday that White, who was shot three times by a security agent after spraying insecticide and brandishing a machete near a security checkpoint, was also carrying a bag loaded with six firebombs — Mason jars with cloth wicks soaked in gasoline.
There was also a barbecue lighter and a letter opener in the bag, Normand said.
The airport concourse that was the scene of chaos reopened Saturday morning, and a spokeswoman said airport operations were normal.
Investigators are still trying to determine a reason for the attack. The sheriff said White had a history of mental problems.
White approached the security checkpoint at the airport’s busy Concourse B shortly before 8 p.m., spraying agents and travelers with wasp killer before drawing a machete from his waistband and chasing a security agent.
At one point, a male TSA agent blocked the machete with a piece of luggage as White ran through a metal detector.
White chased TSA agent Carroll Richel while swinging the machete. They were heading toward Lieutenant Heather Slyve of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, who drew her weapon and fired three times as White quickly gained ground on Richel, Normand said.
One bullet is believed to have gone through Richel’s right upper arm and hit White. Richel credited Slyve with saving her life.
“Officer Slyve is my hero,” Richel said.
Her wound was not life-threatening.
A sheriff’s news release said White had “a few minor arrests.” Investigators were continuing to check into his employment and criminal history, said Colonel John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office.
Concourse B serves Southwest Airlines. Flights were diverted to another concourse Friday night. Airport spokeswoman Michelle Wilcut said in an e-mail that Concourse B reopened normally Saturday morning for its first departing flight.
Brett Leonard, whose flight from San Francisco landed in New Orleans shortly before the attack, said passengers in the baggage claim area had no indication of what happened until they walked outside.
Leonard said he was put into a cab with strangers as police tried to evacuate the area.
“It was just very confusing — we didn’t know what was going on. No alarm, no announcement, just word of mouth,” he said.
Normand said investigators were trying to determine what White was doing at the airport.
White’s car was found outside the terminal and searched. Authorities said they found smoke bombs, and tanks of acetelyne, refrigerant, and oxygen in the trunk.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said a review of security procedures will follow, adding that such is standard after any emergency.
Logan Tucker, 26, of Meridian, Miss., and Phillip Green, 33, of Houston said they were near where the attack and shooting unfolded.
“I heard the gunshots,” Tucker said.
“It was pandemonium after that,” Green said. “I took cover. I didn’t want to become part of the story.”