A woman was arrested after stabbing three people, including a police lieutenant, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday.
Officers shouted commands to drop the weapon but the woman, identified by authorities as 44-year-old Damaris Milton refused to do so, police say. Officer D. McFarland then tried to stop Milton with a conducted electrical weapon. However, she was wearing more than one pair of pants and it did not make contact with her skin.
"So, when we did encounter her, there had already been that stabbing that occurred," Atlanta Police Sgt. John Chafee told Fox 5.
Police say Lt. David Cannon then tried to stop Milton with pepper spray. Unfortunately, Cannon then slipped on the pepper spray and Milton took the opportunity to bend down and stab him in the leg, according to the report. It was at that point that Officer Hatley tackled Milton.
Taxi driver Selemon Melkamu told police that he picked up Milton, who is from Orlando, Florida, from the Kensington MARTA station. During the trip to the airport, Melkamu says Milton stabbed him in the upper chest near his shoulder while passing the international sign for the airport on Interstate 285 South. She then grabbed his phone and threw it out the window and onto the interstate.
After arriving at the airport, Milton walked into the South Terminal. Police officers and a U.S. Deputy Marshal begin following Milton. The woman was then observed swiping at a Delta employee with the knife, police say.
She was then confronted by officers in the terminal.
Lt. Cannon was treated and released at a local hospital.
