NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk man was cited by airport police on Saturday after a TSA officer caught him with a handgun at Norfolk International Airport.

Officials say the TSa officer detected the .45 caliber handgun as the man’s carry-on items entered the checkpoint X-ray machine.

Airport police were contacted, responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the weapon and detained the man for questioning before citing him on weapons charges. 

This is the fifth gun caught at Norfolk International Airport this year compared to 15 previously reported in 2019 and 21 in 2018. However, this year’s low number could be attributed to decreased passenger activity at the airport amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The airport reported a 94.2% decrease in passenger activity for April 2020.

In a report released early May, ORF officials said that only 18,687 passengers traveled through the airport for the month of April 2020. That is less than 6% compared to the 324,683 reported a year ago.


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