Texas police have identified the woman suspected of opening fire in Dallas Love Field Airport on Monday morning as Portia Odufuwa, a 37-year-old woman.
Odufuwa had been dropped off at the airport and entered the terminal. She did not pass TSA, but opened fire near the ticket counter.
“Odufuwa went inside a women’s restroom and a short time later comes out into the ticket counter area and fires a weapon several times,” police said. A Dallas police officer shot her in the “lower extremities” and incapacitated her at which point she was taken to the hospital.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported among passengers, airport workers or responding officers.
Witness Ashley Wycoff told local station Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth that she was standing just feet from the suspect.
“The woman came and was like making an announcement saying somebody failed her husband or something and said, ‘I’m about to blow this place up,’” she said. “All of a sudden, she brandished the gun and started ‘Pop, pop’ in the air. All I can do is run.”
Wycoff’s friend, Britley Daye, had just gotten out of an Uber and was walking inside the front doors as Wycoff and others were running out.
“All we heard was a shot, and we smelled gun smoke,” she said.
Another witness, Judy Rawle, told the station that she saw a woman dressed in black walking in the terminal, “with guns up.”
“We were at the counter checking in, and I was trying to check in and we heard someone yelling,” she said. “And we looked up and we saw her walking down with guns up.”
While no one was injured, the shooting caused significant delays in the airport, with Dallas Love Field suspending operations afterwards, as well as TSA evacuating the terminal and requiring rescreenings through security.
“FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUSPENDED: Passengers should refrain from coming to Dallas Love Field at this time as flight operations have been suspended,” read a tweet from the Dallas Love Field airport Twitter account. “Travelers should check directly with their airline for the latest updates on their flight status. Thank you for your patience.”
Odufuwa was known to law enforcement. Her criminal record includes an arrest for a 2019 bank robbery where she was accused of entering a bank in Wylie and handing the teller a note that demanded money. The charges were later dropped.
The FBI is assisting Dallas police in their investigation.
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