Family tips help police arrest man who allegedly made threats at Atlanta airport
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A Georgia man was arrested Monday morning Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport After allegedly threatening to open fire in the country’s busiest travel hub.
Atlanta police said Billy Joe Cagle, 49, faces charges including terroristic threats, possession of a firearm during a crime, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Cartersville Police said Cagle’s family alerted them after seeing the live stream on social media and said they were on their way to the airport to “shoot up”.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens praised the response of the family and police, saying, “Twenty-seven or more lives would have been lost today because a person came into Hartsfield-Jackson, and after being told he was coming out of Cartersville, Georgia, he had mental challenges. This person, thankfully, his family went to the Cartersville police and shared with them what was happening and the airport and DAP and DAP, DPA, DP and DPA, D. Awareness, and this crisis was avoided.”
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A photo provided by police shows Billy Joe Cagle, 49, who was arrested on Oct. 20, 2025, after threatening to “shoot up” Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on social media. (Atlanta Police Department)
Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said at a press conference Monday afternoon that Cagle arrived at the airport’s South Terminal at 9:29 a.m. Authorities do not believe he was armed, Schierbaum said, adding that video showed him walking toward a crowded TSA checkpoint.
Authorities canvassed the area and issued a “be-on-the-lookout” alert for Cagle and his Chevrolet flatbed pickup truck.
Schierbaum said officers, Using a photo of Cagle, he was located at 9:54 a.m. and taken into custody.
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Travelers pass through a crowded TSA checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on the morning of Oct. 20, 2025, before police arrested Billy Joe Cagle after allegedly threatening to “shoot him.” (Atlanta Police Department)
The video shows officers using two handcuffs to restrain the 6-foot-3, 320-pound man, who screamed as he was cuffed.
During the security sweep of Outer perimeter of the airportOfficers found Cagle’s pickup. Inside, they found an AR-15 loaded with 27 rounds in the back seat. The weapon was cleared, and the scene was declared safe.
Asked if Cagle was cooperating or what he had told investigators, Schierbaum said the case was open and declined to share details.
A Chevrolet flat-bed pickup truck and an AR-15 rifle seized by police belonging to 49-year-old Billy Joe Cagle were found parked curbside at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Oct. 20, 2025, after a social media livestream threatened to “shoot him.” (Atlanta Police Department)
The chief said investigators will try to determine Cagle’s motive in the apparently averted mass shooting.
Schierbaum said Cagle is Criminal historywith a “very significant” prior drug possession arrest in Cartersville.
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Dickens added, “This person had a semi-automatic weapon and this person was mentally challenged. When you have that combination, it can be deadly.”
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