A man is dead after a police officer shot and killed him inside St. Louis Lambert International Airport early Friday morning.
Airport police officers say they were doing routine security checks around 1:05 a.m. when they saw a man with a knife inside Terminal 1. The officers said they told the man to drop the weapon, and when he refused, one of the officers used a stun gun on the man.
Officers said he kept advancing toward them, and that's when a second officer pulled out his gun and shot him. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
After the incident, airport police asked the St. Louis County Police Department to take over the investigation. A county police spokesperson said the man with the knife was not a passenger or anyone who was using the airport for travel.
"Today's incident in Terminal One was a tragic event for our Airport Community," CEO and Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said in a statement. "However, I take great pride in our response. As police responded and county authorities conducted their investigation, we were able to continue normal operations at STL."
Hamm-Niebruegge said the Terminal One MetroLink station was closed for approximately three hours. The airport used shuttle buses to take riders from Terminal One to the Terminal Two MetroLink station. The airport is now operating as normal.
The officer who fired their weapon has been with the airport for a year and has previous law enforcement experience. The incident remains under investigation.
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