PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman faces multiple charges, including four counts of attempted murder, after firing shots from a handgun into the air at Portland International Airport (PDX) Tuesday night, sending people running for cover, the Port of Portland said.
The incident happened around 11:10 p.m. The woman, identified as 47-year-old Laura Patterson, left the restroom near the pre-security area for the D and E concourse checkpoint and fired shots into the air from a handgun, according to the Port of Portland.
"Passengers, employees, and construction personnel were in the area and took cover, but there were no injuries sustained from the gun fire," the Port of Portland said.
Port of Portland police officers arrested Patterson, who is from Kennewick, Washington. She was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center. Patterson is due in court Wednesday afternoon.
Even though no one was hurt, the shots sent worried travelers across the airport running.
"About six or eight TSA people who came rushing towards us and actually in loud voices, I would qualify it as yelling, saying 'Go back, go back, active shooter,'" said Kelli Sundborg, who had just flown in and was exiting a plane.
Sundborg said in the chaos, as people yelled, she tripped trying to turn around.
"I took a big tumble on the ground, just fell on my face, my glasses were flying," Sundborg said. "My bag was on top of me."
Alex Epperly was sitting in E gate waiting for a flight to the east coast when he first saw people running.
"[They] kind of ferried us into the jetway of what was going to be our plane, but there were still people deboarding and they just sent all those people in, and us as well," Epperly said.
Both Epperly and Sundborg said they wish airport personnel were able to communicate more effectively.
"The crux of the issue is there was no communication really in a standardized fashion as to what was going on," said Epperly, who checked social media during the incident.
"I am sure they were all pumped up on adrenaline when they came running down the hall at us, but it's really imperative when you’re in that kind of job, when you’re giving those kind of messages to a group of people, you need to stay calm," Sundborg said.
A spokesperson for the Port of Portland says while they do have an emergency notification system, it was not used because "there was no ongoing threat identified once the suspect was in custody".
The checkpoint remained closed until about 2:45 a.m.
Detectives with the Port of Portland Police Department are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Cassie Hartless at 503-460-4221.
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