The 29-year-old man shot multiple times by Atlanta police inside a Delta Airlines terminal on Thursday has been released from the hospital, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said on Friday.
Police said they executed a warrant for Ronald Johnson III after finding two guns at his apartment on Dental Road, just a block away from the international terminal.
Authorities had said Johnson was armed with a handgun when he was shot and taken into custody outside the airport on Thursday. He was immediately rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Hospital spokeswoman Ashlie Stevens told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Johnson’s condition had been upgraded to “fair.”
UPDATE: Ronald Johnson III, 29, has been released from the hospital. He was shot multiple times by @AtlantaPD after he entered a terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson. He fired several shots in the process before being shot himself. Read our latest: https://t.co/djyJfMUIiF pic.twitter.com/FKPHbdTpV7 — AtlBayNews (@AtlBayNews) March 22, 2018
An arrest warrant for aggravated assault and carrying a concealed weapon was issued for Johnson. He is now facing two counts of aggravated assault, one count of simple assault and one count of carrying a concealed weapon.
“We’re just going to let the courts take care of that,” Turner said when asked about releasing Johnson while his case was still pending.
Police have not identified a motive for the shooting.
Previous reports of multiple passengers being shot were later determined to be false.
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To Woosley, who spoke with MyFoxAtlanta.com, the shooting was “unfortunate, but I’m glad the police responded in a timely manner.”
The shooting prompted a lockdown for Delta Airlines passengers inside the airport, as well as evacuations for passengers and employees at Southwest, Alitalia, American and United airlines.
George Wilson, 22, who was on his way to visit friends in Boston after his 10-hour flight from New Orleans, was now on a bus headed back to the airport after his 13-hour layover in Atlanta.
“I’ve been listening to news from just past the Atlanta airport and it’s been a little frightening,” he said. “It was kind of refreshing to hear that police acted very quickly to get him under control.”
One passenger with luggage in the terminal said she heard multiple gunshots and hid in a back room with other passengers and employees.
First TV station reports #BREAKING armed gunman inside Delta #Atlanta airport terminal. Police investigating and saying terminal not safe. Flight was safe but passengers report shots fired in the terminal #AtlantaTribune https://t.co/dnwibIbgyc — Dale Bluman (@DaleBluman) March 22, 2018
“We heard the gunshots right near the bathroom,” Destiny Porter said. “There were maybe three gunshots. I immediately covered myself with my luggage, trying to get out of the way.”
She said she got off a flight at 4:30 p.m. EST.
People called 911 and local television news stations at about 5:45 p.m. EST as police officers converged on the area.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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