Foiled Atlanta Airport Attack: Man with AR-15 Arrested Before Carrying Out Deadly Plan

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ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities apprehended a man at Atlanta’s busy airport on Monday following a family tip-off about his intentions to attack the site. The man was found with an assault rifle and ammunition in his truck parked outside, according to the city’s police chief.

Billy Joe Cagle from Cartersville, Georgia, had revealed his intentions to attack the world’s busiest airport during a social media livestream, stated Chief Darin Schierbaum at a press briefing.

The Cartersville Police Department received a report from Cagle’s family, alerting them that he was broadcasting his journey to the Atlanta airport with plans to “shoot it up,” as they described. The family indicated he had an assault rifle with him, Schierbaum noted, identifying Cagle as a convicted felon.

This image made from an Oct. 20, 2025, police body camera footage shows Billy Joe Cagle, of Cartersville, Ga., right, talks to police officers before he was arrested inside the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. (Atlanta Police Department via AP)

When Cagle, 49, reached Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, he parked his Chevrolet pickup truck just outside the terminal. Police discovered an AR-15 along with 27 rounds of ammunition inside the vehicle, Schierbaum mentioned.

“Today, we’re discussing a success instead of a tragedy because a family noticed something amiss and reported it,” the chief emphasized.

Cartersville police Capt. Greg Sparacio, whose department received the initial tip from family members, said Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.”

During the news conference, police showed surveillance video that shows Cagle arriving at the airport and body camera video of his arrest.

A Chevrolet flatbed pickup truck is seen arriving curbside at the airport terminal around 9:30 a.m. and then a man police identified as Cagle is seen entering the airport a few minutes later. He walks over to the TSA security checkpoint and had “high interest in that area,” Schierbaum said.

Body camera footage shows Atlanta police officers, who had a photo of Cagle provided by his family on their phones, approach him and start asking him questions before taking him into custody. As they take him to the ground and put handcuffs on him, Cagle can be heard yelling.

Cagle has been charged with making terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon, Schierbaum said.

Since Cagle is a convicted felon, Atlanta police will work with federal authorities to determine how he obtained the gun “which he was not able to legally possess,” Schierbaum said.

Mayor Andre Dickens said “we’re thankful to God” that a tragedy was averted.

“We’re thankful to God and to good information, and good intel, and good people for this crisis being averted,” the mayor said.