Washington, Mar 21 (EFE).– A police officer shot and wounded a man who had attacked three Transportation Security Administration workers with a machete and insecticide at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, local authorities said.

The attacker, a 63-year-old taxi driver identified as Richard White who did not have a lengthy criminal record, sprayed two TSA agents with the wasp repellent and later wounded another agent with the machete at a security checkpoint, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said of Friday night’s incident.

The agent cut by the machete sustained only minor wounds, the TSA said in a statement.

A policewoman with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office shot White three times. The assailant was reportedly unconscious when he was rushed to an area hospital.

One of those shots grazed a passenger, while other people suffered minor injuries while trying to flee to safety.

The incident sparked panic at the airport, which was closed for 20 minutes, and triggered a major police deployment.

The airport said on Twitter Saturday morning that all concourses had been reopened. EFE