KENNER, La. (AP) — Police said the machete-
wielding man shot at New Orleans' international
airport last night has died.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office said in a
statement that 63-year-old Richard White was
pronounced dead Saturday afternoon at a local
hospital.
Sheriff Newell Normand said White — who was
shot three times by one of Normand's
lieutenants Friday after approaching a security
checkpoint, spraying insecticide and brandishing
a machete — was also carrying a bag loaded
with six Molotov cocktails: six Mason jars with
cloth wicks soaked in gasoline.
Normand said White chased a TSA agent while
swinging the machete. They were heading
toward Lt. Heather Slyve of the Jefferson Parish
Sheriff's Office, who drew her weapon and fired
three times.
The sheriff said White had a history of mental
health problems.
EARLIER:
KENNER, La. (AP) — Authorities say the machete-
wielding man who was shot at New Orleans'
international airport after trying to attack
passengers and security agents was carrying
explosives at the time.
Sheriff Newell Normand said suspect Richard
White, who was shot three times by a security
agent late Friday after approaching a security
checkpoint spraying insecticide and brandishing
a machete, was also carrying a bag loaded with
six Molotov cocktails — six Mason jars with cloth
wicks soaked in gasoline.
There was also a barbeque lighter and a letter
opener in the bag, Normand said at a press
conference at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans
International Airport. Residue from smoke
bombs was also found near White's body.
Normand says White is hospitalized with
gunshot wounds and is currently "unconscious."
The sheriff suggested that the suspect has had
"mental health" issues. His family has been
cooperating with the investigation.
The suspect, 63, is a Jehovah's Witness and has
refused "certain types of medical care,"
Normand said.
"Fortunately, he didn't seriously injure
anybody," Normand said.
Authorities also found smoke bombs and tanks
of acetelyne, Freon and oxygen in the trunk of
his car, Normand said, but investigators didn't
what, if anything, White intended to do with
the materials.
Normand said White sprayed Transportation
Security Administration agents and several
passengers in line at the checkpoint with wasp
killer. He then drew a large machete from the
waistband of his pants. A male TSA agent
blocked the machete with a piece of luggage as
White ran through a metal detector.
Lt. Heather Slyve of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's
Office drew her weapon. White continued to
swing the machete as she approached, and she
fired three rounds, striking him in the face,
chest and leg, according to Normand.
White was chasing TSA agent Carroll Richel
when Slyve felled him with her shots. Richel,
who was hit in the arm by one of the rounds,
credited Slyve with saving her life.
"Officer Slyve is my hero," Richel said.