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Feds Look at Woman Arrested at Airport With Gun
Aired August 26, 2002 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal agents want to know more about the woman who was arrested yesterday at Philadelphia International Airport allegedly with a .357 magnum and police ammunition. They want to know whether the weapon is, in fact, hers, and whether how she managed to fly from Philly from Atlanta without being spotted.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is live from Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport with more -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, according to federal officials, this 37-year-old woman was taking a commuter flight yesterday from the Philadelphia International Airport. When she went through security, they spotted something suspicious in the bag. They took out the bag, looked inside; they found her clothes, some personal belonging, and yes, a fully-loaded handgun.
What is interesting and notable about this story, is this woman who is now under arrest, 37-year-old Nancy Keller, says she did not know the gun was inside, but it was her husband's gun. She said she usually didn't carry the bag -- it was her husband's bag -- and that she knew nothing about it.
We should make it clear it is a crime whether you know or don't know there is a gun inside of your bag.
It raises as couple of questions: While you give a gold star to the security officials at Philadelphia International Airport, you wonder about where she started her day. There was a conflicting flight for her. And this is where she started the day yesterday, the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. This is the busiest airport in the world in terms of number of passengers each year. And she started her day here and she had the gun. And she is telling the truth that she didn't know it was in her bag the whole time; that means she passed through security here in Atlanta and no one spotted the gun.
What's very important to note that security agents, when stuff goes through the X-ray machines, are trained to find many things inside bags. Nothing, though, is easier to spot than a gun. It very is rare that they find guns, because people know not to carry guns on airplanes. Obviously, that is something you can't do. The fact that it may have gone through here and not been spotted is very disturbing.
But Nancy Keller is appearing in court, federal court, at this hour in Philadelphia. She is charged with carrying a concealed dangerous weapon. We are told that the gun was fully loaded, this .357 magnum with 12 rounds, and that she had another magazine in the bag that was also fully loaded with 12 rounds.
We should know more shortly, after the proceed proceedings in court are over.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Gary, meanwhile, what is being done there in Atlanta Hartsfield in regard to security? Are they making any changes?
TUCHMAN: As of now, officials here at Hartsfield International Airport are not commenting. That is not unusual. Talking to people at airports when there is negative news is one of the hardest things in the business of journalism to do. They never want to talk. They usually say, Please talk to federal authorities -- and that's what they're telling us right no.
But as of now, they don't know for sure that the gun went through here. It is possible, that, indeed, if this woman was carrying a gun, that she could have gotten it from Philadelphia. What she did was she flew on a US Airways jet here and had to go through security again in Philadelphia because she connected to the commuter terminal. So that is possible too. They don't know for sure if the gun went through here, but certainly down the road, we expect a comment here. As of now, with the naked eye, security is the exactly the same as we usually see it in that airport.
PHILLIPS: All right. That is good news. Our Gary Tuchman, thank you so much.
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