Alaska News

Man arrested for airport gun violation wanted to go 'anywhere in Alaska'

According to California's Sacramento Bee, a Montana man arrested for trying to carry four loaded handguns onto a flight at Sacramento International Airport had asked for a ticket "anywhere in Alaska."

According to the sworn statement of FBI Special Agent Michael Di Romahe, the ticket agent booked him on a flight to Phoenix, with a connecting flight to Anchorage.

Harold Edward Waller, 45, is charged with carrying a concealed dangerous weapon that would have been accessible to him in flight onto an aircraft. The charge, a federal felony, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Transportation Security Administration staff found a handgun in one of the bags Waller sent through security, and another in a shoulder holster as he removed his jacket, plus two more in other bags he placed in line for x-ray.

According to authorities, Waller admitted that all of the firearms were his and he knew he was about to carry them on an airplane, but that he didn't intend to harm anyone. According to a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesperson, he was "surprisingly matter-of-fact" when confronted with a cache of weapons and ammunition that was discovered after his arrest.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd read the charge against Waller at a brief hearing last Thursday. A defense attorney making a special appearance asked that the judge hold the matter over to give Waller's relatives in Montana time to obtain private counsel for him.

"I don't understand it. Nobody who was thinking properly would do what he did," Waller's mother told The Associated Press. She said her son was driven to Sacramento for treatment of depression and an allergic reaction to anti-depressant medication several weeks ago.

Read much more, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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