ROMULUS, Mich. — A portion of a terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport was evacuated today after a man walked through a passenger screening checkpoint and refused to obey security officers, officials said.
The passenger failed to stop about 7:45 a.m. at the McNamara Terminal, the Transportation Security Administration said. The man was arrested by airport police and was being questioned, airport spokesman Mike Conway said.
“The Transportation Security Administration asked him to stop and he didn’t comply,” Conway said.
TSA workers activated an alarm and called police. Security doors were lowered at the portion of the terminal between the security checkpoint and terminal concourse, and people in that area were evacuated, Conway said.
Security screening resumed about an hour later, officials said.
The man’s vehicle was located at the airport in suburban Detroit, and was searched and towed, Conway said. Dogs were used to search the portion of the terminal that was evacuated, but nothing was found, he said.
People evacuated from the terminal were screened again, but Conway said it wasn’t immediately known how many were screened twice.
The breach comes as airlines and airports have boosted security after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to ignite a bomb on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit from Amsterdam. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is charged with attempting to blow up the plane that had nearly 300 passengers and crew aboard.
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