The Transportation Security Administration at Memphis Airport blamed ‘miscommunication’ among agents for allowing an airport worker to bypass a security checkpoint with a loaded handgun.
The incident caused a temporary shutdown of security checkpoints and two TSA officers were taken off screening duties.
The firearm was spotted in a bag by the security x-ray machine but the bag was given back to airport shop worker Shwundra Boxiley without any action taken.
After Boxiley left the checkpoint, she was contacted by TSA officials to be re-screened but by this time, she had removed the weapon from the bag after ‘becoming afraid’ and hid it in a staff break room.
"Following a miscommunication between TSA officers working at a Memphis International Airport checkpoint Monday, an airport concession employee carrying a firearm in a bag was temporarily allowed into the sterile area with the item. As a result, TSA has removed the two involved officers from screening duties until conclusion of an internal review," a TSA statement said.
"It was only after Boxiley was made fully aware of the severity of the current situation and that it had caused all screening operations at the airport to cease and prevented passengers from exiting the concourses, did she finally admit to having a weapon inside her bag and that she had hidden the weapon."
Boxiley’s security credentials were revoked and she was issued a misdemeanor citation for unlawful possession of a firearm.
