UPDATE: Standoff with Man Armed with Knife Ends Safely at Oakland International Airport
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A standoff between Alameda County sheriff's deputies and a man threatening to harm himself with a knife forced officials to shut down Terminal 1 at Oakland International Airport for about four hours Tuesday morning.
The incident began around 5:45 a.m. and impacted flights from Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Delta and others. Airport officials said Terminal 2 -- which is a hub for Southwest Airlines -- was operational.
The standoff ended at around 9:30 a.m. when deputies deployed a Taser on the man. A sheriff's sergeant engaged in a struggle and was able to grab hold of the knife.
The man suffered a minor injury to his neck and was taken to the hospital. No other injuries were reported, sheriff's officials said.
"We got a call from TSA, the man passed a note saying he needed help," said Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Tya Modeste. "When deputies assigned to the airport responded, the man immediately pulled out a knife and put it to his throat."
He appeared also to have abandoned his vehicle, which had no license plates, at the terminal curbside.
The sheriff's department tweeted: "Terminal 1 @IFlyOAKland we have a suicidal man with a knife threatening to harm himself. Deputies and crisis negotiators are speaking with the man to get him help. Terminal 1 has been evacuated while we work through the issue. Stay tuned"
Modeste said no one else was threatened by the man.
"Right now, we have the situation isolated," she told KPIX 5. "We have deputies, our crisis intervention unit on scene and inside and he is right there at (baggage) Carousel 1. The entire Terminal 1 has been evacuated before the security checkpoint. Everything beyond is happening as it should."
"We will negotiate with him as long as we need to try to bring this situation under control," she added.
When asked about the man, Modeste replied: "He is very highly agitated. There are moments when he seems like he wants to cooperate. He seems like he wants help and then there are other times when he is extremely agitated. He has a very large, bladed knife at his neck."
Passengers at the airport took to social media to post photos.
Deputies told KPIX they didn't know what precipitated the incident or who the man was.
At least one passenger KPIX spoke with said they understood the seriousness of the incident.
"Obviously he's more important than my flight, so I'm OK with waiting," that traveler said.
