Police arrest man walking into Texas airport with loaded gun www.privateofficer.com
Harold Vincent Gillen, 63, initially walked into the terminal July 13 with an empty shoulder holster, McAllen police said.
Gillen approached a U.S. Transportation Security Administration official and asked how to get past the checkpoint, according to court documents. He also asked a U.S. Border Patrol agent stationed there about carrying a weapon inside the premises.
The TSA official told Gillen about the proper paperwork needed and the agent told him he could not be carrying a weapon, public records show. Gillen then headed out to the short-term parking lot and authorities alerted a McAllen police officer, also stationed at the airport, about the suspect.
A second Border Patrol agent saw Gillen get into a gray 2006 Cadillac STS with Kansas licenses plates and reported seeing him drive up and down the parking lot’s aisles, according to public records.
Gillen returned to the terminal, this time with a .40-caliber Berretta in his holster, police said. Gillen does not have a concealed handgun license and the magazine held 10 rounds.
A Border Patrol agent who spotted Gillen drew his gun and handcuffed him, public records show. Gillen, who was dressed in civilian clothing, had a security guard badge on his belt, but police said he is neither a security guard nor a peace officer.
The agent took Gillen into the airport’s operations office, where he consented to having his vehicle searched, police said. Authorities found three boxes of .40-caliber ammunition in the Cadillac’s trunk.
Gillen told police he placed the gun in the holster when he went to his vehicle, public records show. He said he tried leaving the parking lot but his parking ticket didn’t work; that’s when he walked back into the terminal with the loaded gun.
A McAllen municipal judge charged Gillen on July 13 with unlawful carrying of a weapon, a Class A misdemeanor, and assessed him a $5,000 bond.
If convicted, he could face up to a year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $4,000
