A pilot at a small airport in Arkansas is being hailed as a hero after stopping an armed teen who had demanded a plane at gunpoint on Tuesday morning thanks to his own ability to access a firearm.

The bizarre situation unfolded at the Texarkana Regional Airport just after 7:30 Tuesday morning, when the 15-year-old strolled into a building operated by Signature Aviation that serves as a private terminal for small aircraft. Armed with a handgun and a rifle, the teen told a startled employee that he wanted a plane. After promising to help, the employee fled to a back room, locked the door, and dialed 911 to alert authorities. 

When the teen realized the employee wasn’t coming back, he left the office and entered the runway portion of the airfield, where he was confronted by a pilot who had grabbed a gun of his own from his truck. He ordered the teen to the ground, and the 15-year-old complied without a struggle, allowing the pilot to take control of the teen’s firearms. 

“The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department applauds the heroic act by the local pilot,” the agency said in a news release, without naming the pilot. “The fact that this incident was resolved quickly and peacefully, despite the extreme danger presented, is highly commendable.” 

… [Airport director Paul] Mehrlich applauded the terminal’s staff and the pilot for acting calmly to stop the suspect.

“They remained calm despite being openly threatened, and then the pilot, who stepped up, put himself in harm’s way,” Mr. Mehrlich said in an interview. “That was very heroic. We had no injuries, no deaths. We consider this an example of where everything kind of goes right.”

In a statement, Signature Aviation said: “All guests and team members are safe and accounted for, which is always our top priority. We are cooperating with local authorities who are investigating the situation.”

Authorities have said the teen, who was described as living outside the Texarkana area, also had a shotgun in his vehicle. Police haven’t announced any motive for the 15-year-old’s attempt to take a plane at gunpoint, or why he chose the regional airport close to the Texas/Arkansas border, but if he had tried to carry out his plan in a less gun-friendly area he might very well have succeeded, or at the very least, harmed multiple individuals before police had the chance to respond. 

The fact that this unnamed pilot was able to access a gun of his own appears to have made all the difference here. Yes, the employee who was first confronted by the teen did the smart thing by retreating to a room and locking themselves inside while calling 911, but the pilot was able to stop the threat posed by the teenager before the first officers showed up in response. 

I’m sure the responding officers got to the scene as quickly as possible, but they wouldn’t have arrived in time to prevent the teen from shooting up the aviation office or attacking airport employees on the tarmac. Thankfully there was an armed citizen who had the ability and opportunity to intervene before things went even more sideways. When seconds count police are minutes away, as the saying goes, and that was certainly the case in Texarkana on Tuesday.