ATLANTA AIRPORT SHITDOWN - Man says he didn't know fuss was about him

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[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 11.17.2001]

Man says he didn't know the fuss was about him

By MAURICE TAMMAN Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

Michael Lasseter and his son were heading to Oxford, Miss., for today's Ole Miss-Georgia football game.

Instead, he shut down the world's busiest airport for three hours, causing a ripple that disrupted the lives of tens of thousands of people.

He later told police he was unaware he had caused so much trouble. "He heard somebody had breached security, but he didn't know [authorities] were looking for him," said Atlanta police Major M.L. Brooks.

Late Friday morning, Lasseter, a 32-year-old Gainesville bank executive, boarded a Northwest Airlines flight headed to Memphis with his 6-year-old son, 8-year-old nephew and wife's uncle, his wife said Friday evening. "It was going to be a weekend of fun for the guys," Carla Lasseter said. "I'm sure it's become a nightmare for my husband now."

A diehard UGA fan wearing a Bulldog shirt, Lasseter waited at the gate for his flight. Shortly before departure, he realized he had left his video camera on a terminal train, police said. He rushed down Concourse D and tried to retrace his route.

He ended up in the main terminal outside the airport's security zone and began looking around for his camera.

Realizing he was about to miss his flight, he dashed the wrong way down the escalators to the trains below, triggering an airport-wide search and evacuation.

His wife said he was compelled in part by parental concern: "He didn't want to leave his son on the plane."

Lasseter missed the flight, which departed before the airport closed, while the rest of his relatives went on to Memphis, an 84-mile drive from Oxford, Miss., where the game will be played today. Lasseter, still unaware he was being hunted, remained at the airport, booking a later flight to Memphis.

Police arrested him after he was spotted by a pilot. He could face federal charges for violating airport security but had not been charged as of late Friday night. He was still in custody and being questioned by FBI agents.

"I'm thankful for all the security, especially after Sept. 11, I really am," Carla Lasseter said. "But all this? I think it's a little overboard."

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

Answers

Ummm...., Git, dear.....

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

LOL! Oh well, shit happens. I think I'll leave it.

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

Uh, OG, can I have some of whatever you're having? It's just for "medicinal purposes", really! ;-)

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

Unfortunately, it's something over which I have no control, lol!

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001

And she has the nerve to edit me!

I want some too!!!!

Got any chocolate?

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2001



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