potential terrorist on Southwest flight
Man held, accused of taking gun to airport
By ROB JOHNSON
Staff Writer
Security screeners at Nashville International Airport arrested a convicted murderer yesterday who they say was carrying a loaded revolver while trying to board an airliner.
Federal agents said they do not think it was a case of someone who simply forgot to remove a firearm before entering the airport.
''We don't believe it was inadvertent,'' said Doug Riggin, a supervisory special agent in the Nashville FBI office.
However, he said, it was unclear precisely what John Morris Anderson intended to do with the weapon once aboard the airplane. The case remains under investigation.
Anderson was passing through a security checkpoint yesterday on his way to board a Southwest Airlines flight to Tacoma, Wash., according to a federal criminal complaint. A Transportation Security Administration employee spotted the firearm as the man's bag passed through the X-ray machine, the complaint said.
She summoned a supervisor, who alerted airport police. Anderson was taken aside to a less congested area of the terminal.
The complaint said that the officers found the Smith & Wesson .357-caliber revolver in a zippered compartment of the man's carry-on luggage. Five of the six bullets in the revolver were coated with Teflon. Teflon bullets can penetrate many of the bullet-resistant vests worn by law-enforcement officers.
Police handcuffed Anderson, who immediately requested an attorney. The federal complaint said Anderson was not questioned further.
In addition to airport police and the FBI, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are participating in the investigation.
Court documents identified Anderson as having been convicted in 1966 in Davidson County for first-degree murder.
He received a 20-year sentence and reported to prison on Jan. 22, 1966, records show. His age and address were unavailable yesterday.
Anderson has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft. He is being held by federal authorities pending a detention hearing.