Two terminals of New York City’s JFK Airport were evacuated, part of the Van Wyck Expressway that runs near the airport in Queens was closed, and several flights were either delayed or cancelled after unconfirmed reports of shooting in Terminal 8 caused mass panic and chaos.
Port Authority police received the reports of shots fired at Terminal 8 near the departures area around 9:30 pm on Sunday. A few minutes later, police closed Terminal 1 after they received additional reports of shots fired. Passengers at the airport were told to stay inside and to take cover behind ‘anything’ they could find since it was “not safe.” In a statement, however, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said preliminary investigations had found no evidence of gunshots being fired.
Statement regarding situation at John F. Kennedy International Airport. #JFK #PAPD @PANYNJ @NY_NJairports pic.twitter.com/eOBR0UnzVY
— Port Authority NY&NJ (@PANYNJ) August 15, 2016
The NYPD’s chief of special operations also confirmed on Twitter that no shots had been fired.
JFK UPDATE: All terminals searched & cleared. Negative results. All affected terminals will resume operations shortly. No shots were fired.
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) August 15, 2016
Passengers were left stranded on the street after Terminal 8 and Terminal 1 were evacuated, as an ‘abundance of caution’ after heavily armed police moved in to hunt for an apparently non-existent gunman. Hundreds of passengers took to Twitter to post pictures of the mayhem:
All passengers have been told to drop baggage and follow police to exit. All being searched. #JFK #jfkairport pic.twitter.com/7doMgGIqX3
— Zack Young (@ThisIsZackYoung) August 15, 2016
A photo during the incident of #JFK pic.twitter.com/Y6T0xJZ0c1
— Moe Zoyari (@Photomohammad) August 15, 2016
My friend is being evacuated from #JFK. One person in handcuffs. #jfkairport pic.twitter.com/JjsZyvME2o
— Jamey Singleton (@jameysingleton) August 15, 2016
The scene outside Terminal 8 #JFK. Airport shooting. pic.twitter.com/W5dce6XRSG
— bipashaghosh (@bghosh) August 15, 2016
Panic at JFK terminal 1, no info. #jfk pic.twitter.com/PmsZKvZPMv
— Fabien Bar (@Neibaf03) August 15, 2016
Everyone is being kicked out of the terminal. Police on alert! #JFK pic.twitter.com/0r5WSdkFeC
— Robbie Rob (@locodoggy) August 15, 2016
On a plane at #JFK and a bunch of people just ran out on the tarmac. pic.twitter.com/HcPkDWf47C
— Josef Pfeiffer (@jpfeiffer) August 15, 2016
Panic at jfk theyre closing the gates at security-possible shooter pic.twitter.com/OJUIFaenEI
— Dan Archer (@archcomix) August 15, 2016
The panic began after a woman coming off a plane said she thought she’d heard gunfire, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News. But police believe ‘cheering, clapping and banging’ from people watching Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt winning the 100 meter final at the Rio Olympics Games, may have been misinterpreted as a fight and gunshots.
Cheering & clapping from people watching the Olympics confused for gun fire @ #JFK? How?
— jess Orser (@OrserthEnforcer) August 15, 2016
Saying the shots 3 people heard @ #JFK were frm ppl celebrating the #Olympics is like Hillary saying #Benghazi happened because of a video.
— Mrs Pitt (@BradsKiwiWife) August 15, 2016
No other information was immediately available. The investigation is ongoing.
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