INTERNATIONAL: Authorities searched for a gun owner who fled after his weapon fired by accident at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta's International airport, sending terrified travelers bolting onto the tarmac on Saturday, halting flights during the busy Thanksgiving holiday period.

Officials has announced and made it clear that there was not an active shooter, after numerous social media posts indicated that passengers were evacuating parts of America's busiest airport. The Transportation Security Administration said early reports indicated that three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

A property search TSO at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s (ATL) Main Checkpoint began a bag search due to a prohibited item identified by the X-Ray. A personnel has advised the passenger not to touch the property, and as he opened the compartment containing the prohibited item, the passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed a firearm, at which point it discharged. The passenger then fled the area, running out of the airport exit. An arrest warrant was issued for the 42-year-old gun owner, named by police as Kenny Wells.

He was being sought on charges of carrying a concealed weapon at a commercial airport, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharging a firearm and reckless conduct, Atlanta Police Major Reginald Moorman told a news conference.

There was a huge throng of passengers who had to wait several hours to be cleared at the ticketing and security lines after the incident. Hartsfield-Jackson was the world's busiest airport in 2021, according to aviation analytics provider Official Airline Guide (OAG).

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF CROWD OF PASSENGERS NEAR THE TICKET LINES}