Passenger In Custody After Bomb Threat At O'Hare: Police

CHICAGO, IL — A bomb threat briefly disrupted holiday travelers Tuesday morning at O’Hare airport, but the threat was determined to be unfounded and a passenger was arrested, according to authorities.

Shortly before 6 a.m., a ticketed passenger told an airline employee behind a counter that he had a bomb in his bag and walked away, abandoning the bag, authorities said. The passenger characterized the explosive as a pipe bomb, according to Chicago police, who established a perimeter cleared the area.

Nothing suspicious was found and no injuries were reported, police said, adding that officers located the passenger and took him into custody with charges pending.

Travelers at checkpoints one and two in Terminal 1 were moved to checkpoint three, according to the Transportation Security Administration, which tweeted that its screening operations were not significantly affected by the incident. The bag was cleared before 7 a.m., according to the TSA.