Teen goes to airport with guns and demands plane, then pilot steps in, Arkansas cops say
.png "A teenager was arrested after police say he went to an airport with guns and demanded a plane in Arkansas.")
Police in Arkansas are investigating after they say a teen went to a regional airport with guns and demanded a plane.
Around 7:30 a.m. Feb. 4, police were dispatched to the Texarkana Regional Airport, according to a Facebook post by the Texarkana Police Department.
Dispatchers were told a male walked into the airport with a handgun and a rifle, went to the front counter and demanded a plane.
A witness ran away and told others, police said.
An employee told the boy she would help him, then called 911, the New York Times reported. The 15-year-old then pushed open a door leading to the airfield, Paul Mehrlich, the airport’s director, told the news outlet.
A pilot with a local private business went and got his own gun out of his truck and confronted the teen, police said. The pilot ordered the teen on the ground and then the teen was disarmed.
The Texarkana Regional Airport released a statement thanking the quick actions of the staff and pilot who intervened.
“They remained calm despite being openly threatened, and then the pilot, who stepped up, put himself in harm’s way,” Mehrlich told the New York Times. “That was very heroic. We had no injuries, no deaths. We consider this an example of where everything kind of goes right.”
The teen was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, attempted aggravated robbery and terroristic threatening.
“The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department applauds the heroic act by the local pilot. The fact that this incident was resolved quickly and peacefully, despite the extreme danger presented, is highly commendable,” police said.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Teen goes to airport with guns and demands plane, then pilot steps in, Arkansas cops say."
