COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Court records show a Hilliard-area man fatally shot by police outside Port Columbus International Airport had two knives taped to his legs, behavior an officer described as “consistent with someone who intended to hijack an aircraft.”
A police officer’s statement says the man tried to conceal weapons and buy an airline ticket using a woman’s ID. Police say he had more knives in his SUV along with a gas mask, other masks, computers, cameras and cellphones.
The statement was filed this week as investigators sought permission to search data on a cellphone linked to the case.
Hashim Abdul-Rasheed, 41, was shot Jan. 7 outside the airport’s departures terminal. Police say officers confronted him and he lunged at one with a knife.
He had a court-documented history of mental illness.