Update, Monday, Dec. 21: Eduardo Garcia, 31, is facing charges for terroristic threatening, misconduct involving a controlled substance and violating conditions of release.
Garcia, who lives in California, “told police he came to the airport to blow it up,” according to a court document filed in the criminal case against him.
Police found a large knife and a small bag of methamphetamine on Garcia when he was searched, the charges said.
The device he had placed in the abandoned suitcase was rendered safe by the Anchorage Police Department Bomb Squad, the charges said. No additional information about the device was immediately available.
Garcia had recently been released from jail in California on a pending charge involving shoplifting and had an outstanding warrant for grand theft auto, the court document said.
Original story:
A man was arrested after he called in a bomb threat to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport late Wednesday, officials said.
The airport communications center received a call around 9:05 p.m. “stating the caller had placed a bomb in the South Terminal in the area of the Alaska Airlines ticket lobby,” the airport said in a statement.
Airport police found the bag, based on the caller’s descriptions, and people in the terminal were moved away from the area, the airport said.
About five minutes after placing the call, the man identified himself to police, according to airport officials.
The Anchorage Bomb Squad deployed a robot and by midnight the team determined the “suspected explosive device” to be safe, the airport said. Officials have not said what was inside the bag.
Flights from Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines and Grant Aviation were delayed Wednesday night and arriving flights were diverted to the North Terminal, according to the airport. Normal operations resumed after midnight.
Officials did not release the name of the man who made the threat but said he is facing charges of terroristic threatening and misconduct involving a controlled substance. The investigation is ongoing with help from the FBI, the airport said.