New York's LaGuardia airport shortly evacuated

From the BNO Newsroom.
Photo by Chris Giersch.

NEW YORK CITY (BNO NEWS) -- An American Airlines terminal at New York's LaGuardia airport was briefly evacuated on Saturday morning, officials told BNO News.

The evacuation was ordered around 6.15 a.m. local time when officers detained a suspicious person carrying a suspicious package, said Arlene Salac, who is a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Around 8.30 a.m., the all-clear was given and passengers slowly began to re-enter the terminal. Initially, as hundreds of people were seen waiting in front of the terminal, all flights in and out of the airport had been canceled. Around 8 a.m., some flights began to take off.

The New York Daily News cited a police source as saying that passengers pointed out an apparently drunk man to police officers. When officers approached him, according to the newspaper, the man said he had a bomb in his bag. The report continues to say there was a homemade device inside, rigged up to look like a bomb. BNO News could not immediately confirm these details.

The New York City Office of Emergency Management said there was "police activity" at the airport, but provided no further details.

A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey had no additional information.

Further details were not immediately available.

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