Early Wednesday, around 5:15 a.m., Lauryn Wilson says she was tackled at Louis Armstrong International Airport. Hours later, the 13-year-old girl is still visibly upset.
“I'm just walking and all of a sudden I'm on the floor and there's this man squeezing me,” Wilson said. “I thought he was going to stab me, I thought he was going to really hurt me.”
A spokesperson with the Transportation Security Administration says a male passenger attempted to pass through a metal detector with his luggage. He was stopped and told to put his bag on the X-ray conveyor belt. The spokesperson said the man did as he was told, then turned and left the screening area.
However, Wilson's grandmother, Vedra Jackson, said that is not quite how everything happened.
“When we pulled up, we heard this commotion,” Jackson said. “He was just yelling “No!” just screaming like he was losing it.”
Vedra said the man then threw his bags and ran away. The 58-year-old grandmother says the suspect came back within five minutes and her granddaughter ended up on the floor.
“He tackled her, landed on her back, squeezing her arm saying ‘Give me a hug,’” said.
Jackson said she started crying because she couldn’t help her granddaughter. She was in a wheelchair; this month, she’s getting both of her knees replaced.
Shortly after the tackling, Jackson and Wilson say Jefferson Parish deputies showed up, but they think all this could have been avoided if authorities were on the scene earlier.
“You can't trust things today. You can't take things lightly today, things happen too quickly,” Jackson said.
“it was so scary. I've never been in a situation like that,” Wilson said.
The man has been taken to the hospital for mental evaluation, but will be arrested on battery charges once he is released.