Keller applauds response from employees, law enforcement during recent active shooter threat at Yeager Airport

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Although Yeager Airport Director Nick Keller said the active shooter threat the facility received Monday afternoon was quickly determined ‘a hoax,’ he is satisfied with how the airport and law enforcement responded.

According to airport officials, an active shooter threat call happened around 4:20 p.m. Keller told MetroNews it was phoned in by an individual who claimed their friend was on the way to the airport ‘to shoot it up.’

“We just won’t tolerate this kind of activity. This is a serious criminal offense, making threats like that. We are definitely looking into it and investigating it,” Keller told MetroNews on Tuesday.

Nick Keller

Around 30 police vehicles from local and state law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and determined the threat was not viable, Keller said. According to him, it’s part of a trend of similar calls made to airports across the country over the past few months.

Keller compared the incident to swatting, which is the act of reporting a fake crime in order to provoke a heavily armed response from the police.

The Yeager Airport Police, Kanawha County Sheriff, Kanawha County Parks Police, West Virginia State Police, and the Charleston Police Department all responded.

“I’m very satisfied with how the airport reacted and how our mutual aid police agencies responded quickly,” Keller said.

Keller also credited the employees at the airport for being well-trained for situations like Monday’s.

“We have active shooter training exercises, we have tabletop exercises with our first responders and tenants. We also have full-scale exercises, we’ve had two or three over the last several years at night when the public is not here,” he said.

According to Keller, the airport has applied for a shooter detection system, where sensors can detect a gunshot within a building and automatically alert 911 and anyone that signs up for the system. He hopes that will be approved later this year.

Authorities will maintain an enhanced presence at the airport for the foreseeable future while an investigation into the matter continues.

Flights from Yeager Airport continued operating on time following the report.