A local pilot is being credited with helping disarm a teenager who police said walked into an Arkansas airport on Tuesday morning with an AR-style rifle and a handgun.
The 15-year-old boy approached the front desk of Signature Aviation, a business and private aviation company in the Texarkana Regional Airport, and brandished the firearms, the Texarkana Police Department said. He allegedly demanded a plane.
After the teen cocked his rifle, a staff member told him that she would help. She then went into a back office and called 911, airport director Paul Mehrlich told The New York Times.
The teenager became frustrated while at the desk and went out onto the airfield, Mehrlich told the Times. Once there, a pilot for a local private business retrieved his own firearm from his truck and ordered the teen to the ground, police said.
The suspect complied with the pilot’s demand, was disarmed, and was taken into custody, authorities said.
“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,” the police department said in a statement.
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The teenager was booked into an Arkansas juvenile detention center where he faces charges of aggravated assault, attempted aggravated robbery, and making terroristic threats in the first degree.