A woman who was shot by police after she fired a handgun inside the terminal at Dallas Love Field Airport is a former bank robbery suspect, reports say.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said that the incident happened after 37-year-old Portia Odufuwa was dropped off near the Southwest Airlines ticket counter at around 11am on Monday morning.
He told reporters that the suspect then went into a toilet, where she changed her outfit and came back out. An officer in the terminal then saw her pull out a handgun and she began firing into the air and “aiming at the ceiling.”
Police say that the officer “engaged” the suspect and she was shot in the “lower extremities.” She was taken into custody and then to the hospital in an unknown condition.
No one else was injured in the incident, according to officials.
Court records show that a Portia Odufuwa of the same age was accused in a 2019 bank robbery in Wylie, Texas, but the charges were later dropped, according to FOX4.
Oduwufa was accused of handing a bank worker a note demanding money, the news channel reported at the time.
A judge ordered her to undergo a competency examination two weeks before the case against her was dismissed, the station reported.
Dallas Love Field is located around six miles northwest of downtown Dallas and is a hub for Southwest Airlines.
Eyewitnesses told NBC 5 that the suspect had also made comments about her partner cheating on her“and she was about to blow this sucker up.”
Max Geron, the police chief from Rockwall, Texas, was at the airport as a passenger and took to Twitter to confirm the shooting.
“Just got evacuated out of Love Field after an apparent shooting. Family is safe. TSA did a great job.” he tweeted.
Chief Geron told NBC 5 that he and his family had been going through security at the airport when they heard gunfire.
He said that the shots came from near a baggage or ticket counter and that TSA agents quickly moved passengers into secure areas as law enforcement responded.
The police chief said he was told by TSA that “the shooter was down” and they were then evacuated from the airport terminal to an outdoor location.
A ground stop was out in place at the airport with all planes that have landed being held on the apron and not allowed to taxi to gates. Inbound flights to the airport have also been temporarily paused.
Passengers posted videos of the scenes inside the airport on Twitter.
TSA tweeted that all passengers would be evacuated from the airport and have to be rescreened and asked travellers to “Be patient & know that safety of travelers & staff is key.”
