Three Finds in Three Weeks at John Wayne Airport
News & Happenings
May 23, 2008
John Wayne must be wondering what passengers are thinking, with three guns recently found in three weeks at his namesake airport.
Working the X-ray machine, Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Linda Nieto saw the outline of a handgun in a passenger's carry-on bag. Law enforcement officers found a revolver inside.
A week later, TSO Adrian Newton saw the X-rayed image of a handgun in a passenger's backpack during her on-the-job training with Acting Supervisory TSO Cassandra Williamson. Sheriff's deputies found a semi-automatic handgun, with one round in the chamber and four in the magazine.
And the next week TSO Steven Gomez saw the image of what turned out to be a small, loaded semi-automatic handgun.
There were no arrests in any of the incidents.
"If nothing else, the litany of guns being found at our checkpoint tells us we have to maintain the vigilance," said the airport's federal security director, Kathleen Roscher.
Meanwhile, at General Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee), TSO Danielle Kawatski was working the X-ray when she discovered a firearm in a passenger's bag on May 5. She had been on the job only a couple of months. The passenger was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm in a public building.
