Police have Terminal 8 at #JFKAirport under lockdown
Reports of shots fired #NYC pic.twitter.com/OOOgeK6W80— Andy Mai (@MaiAndy) August 15, 2016
On Sunday evening, social media reports indicated that shots may have been fired inside New York City’s JFK airport. However, no one was quite sure what was going on, for rumors of a bomb squad also circulated. The New York Daily News‘ Andy Mai posted this video of police activity at the highway exit outside JFK with news of a Terminal 8 lockdown.
CBS New York confirmed that police were called to the scene at around 9:38 EST and that the incident involved no reported injuries at the time. The New York Post reported that thousands of travelers fled the airport after a woman reported seeing a man with a gun. In the midst of the chaos, one officer yelled for passengers to leave their baggage and get out: “If you’re forgetting anything, it’s not worth your life. Everyone move now!”
Flights to JFK were diverted to Buffalo as the scene unfolded. Twitter user Dan Archer, who was inside the airport, tweeted that police told people to leave the premises and stated, “It’s not safe to stay here.” He also posted this photo and said security gates were closed while police investigated.
Panic at jfk theyre closing the gates at security-possible shooter pic.twitter.com/OJUIFaenEI
— Dan Archer (@archcomix) August 15, 2016
UPDATE – 11:00pm EST: NYC’s ABC 7 reveals that the report of no injuries still stands. In addition, there have been no arrests or bullet casings found by police. Fox News adds that there was no evidence of shots fired.
A video outside the airport showed displaced travelers, who were evacuated due to an “abundance of caution.”
https://twitter.com/HardysCloset/status/765022801359233024
Another Twitter video showed the police presence outside the airport.
Extent of what I can see from other side of Terminal 8 at #JFK pic.twitter.com/FGTHTTUBiB
— Ryan M Craver (@ryanmcraver) August 15, 2016
(Via New York Post, CBS New York & ABC 7 NYC)