Philadelphia police took a flight attendant into custody today and issued her a summary citation after she accidentally brought a gun to work. But though the weapon did discharge at the Philadelphia International Airport this morning, it wasn’t the flight attendant who accidentally fired it – it was a police officer attempting to disarm the gun after confiscating it.
Investigators said that shortly before 7 a.m., a flight attendant with Republic Airlines, an offshoot of U.S. Airways, was going through a TSA checkpoint at Terminal C when agents saw a weapon in her bag through the scanner. The woman, who police said is legally permitted to carry a gun, allegedly forgot that it was there.
TSA agents called Philadelphia police officers who are stationed at the airport, Lt. Ray Evers said. An officer then took possession of the weapon. “It appears that at the time when the officer was rendering it safe for transport – because the gun was going to be confiscated – the officer accidentally discharged the weapon,” Evers said. He said the bullet fired into the floor of the airport and no one was injured.
The flight attendant, who is believed to be from Philadelphia’s outlying suburbs, was taken into custody, issued a summary citation for disorderly conduct and released.
