DeltaFlot

Milwaukee airport concourse evacuated
'They'd rather have it this way and be safe'
April 12, 2002 Posted: 1:36 PM EDT (1736 GMT)

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- A concourse at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport was evacuated Friday after a man went through a security checkpoint without stopping and disappeared into the crowd, officials said.

Authorities were searching for the man Friday, United States Department of Transportation spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said. She said authorities using search dogs determined the concourse was safe.

The evacuation affected about 2,000 passengers in the concourse and delayed some flights for about two hours, airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said. The passengers were allowed to return to their gates once they had been rescreened by security, she said.

"People were very good about it," Rowe said. They "seem to understand that they'd rather have it this way and be safe."

Milwaukee County Sheriff's Sgt. Charles Coughlin said the man showed what appeared to be credentials as he walked through. A security guard followed the man, but lost him in the crowd, Coughlin said.

Cory said officials were still trying to determine what, if anything, was shown.

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