At a 3:30 pm press conference at Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston police officials confirmed that a man died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound just inside the front doors of Terminal B, around 1:35 pm May 2.
According to the police account, the man fired at least one shot into the ceiling, which caught the attention of a special agent in an office nearby. The agent came out of the office and warned the man to drop his gun.
The man turned toward the agent and "at the same time" the agent fired at him, he turned the gun onto himself.
Dale Howard, who was at the airport to pick up family when the incident occurred, told KHOU Channel 11, "There was a bunch of screaming, a bunch of people running, people coming down the escalator the wrong way getting away from it."
The cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, the police official said.
Terminal B remains closed but all other terminals are open. There were no other reported injuries.
