The Atlanta Police Department arrested a man who intended to open fire at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday, the city’s police chief said. 

Forty-nine-year-old Billy Cagle arrived at the airport just prior to 9:30 a.m. EDT, Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a press conference Monday. Less than 10 minutes after he entered the terminal, the Cartersville Police Department (CPD) alerted the Atlanta Police Department (APD) of a tip from Cagle’s family members.

Cagle, the family members said, had been streaming on social media that he was headed to the airport to, as they put it, “shoot it up.” The family also told police that he was in possession of a semiautomatic rifle, Schierbaum noted.

Upon entering the airport, Schierbaum was “very interested” in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) check-in area. Just after 9:54 a.m., officers from the APD’s airport division — with a photograph of the suspect and up-to-date information from their sergeant, who was in contact with the CPD — took Cagle into custody at the TSA check-in.

Police then searched Cagle’s Chevrolet pickup truck, parked outside the airport, and found a Springfield AR-15 rifle with 27 rounds of ammunition. 

“We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something,” Schierbaum said.

Schierbaum said Cagle is charged with terrorist threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assaults, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The APD is working with Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley on the case.

CDP Capt. Greg Sparacio said at the press conference that Cagle has a criminal history in the city, located just more than an hour from the airport. He said Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.”

Sparacio added that Cartersville investigators “quickly” determined what kind of vehicle Cagle was driving upon the department receiving the tip from his family, and alerted APD.

“Today is how it should work: community, law enforcement, dedicated men and women wearing the uniform and trained to respond when their community needs them,” Schierbaum added.

In a Monday afternoon social media post, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her department “is in communication with our interagency partners” regarding the incident and she is “thankful this individual was taken into custody.”