PORTLAND, Ore. — The woman accused of firing shots from a handgun into the air at Portland International Airport (PDX) pleaded not guilty during a Thursday court appearance.
Laura Patterson, who faces multiple charges — including four counts of attempted murder — left the restroom near the pre-security area for the D and E concourse checkpoint and fired shots into the air from a handgun late Tuesday night, according to the Port of Portland. Port of Portland police officers arrested Patterson. She was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center.
Court documents outline what prosecutors say happened on Tuesday night. Officers said that when they asked Patterson why she had fired shots, she replied because she "wanted to." She also said that she was aiming for the ceiling.
An officer reported that after two shots were fired, a witness saw Patterson behind a pillar, holding a handgun, then put it on the floor and asked, "Is anyone going to do anything?" According to court documents, the witness said he heard another person ask Patterson why she fire the gun, and Patterson replied "that she was crazy."
Patterson also, when asked by an operations supervisor if the gun was hers, replied, "Yup, I did it." A bullet hole was reported in a window of the airport's roof, according to court documents. The recovered .380 caliber handgun had one round in the chamber and one round in the magazine; officers also found two spent shell casings.
When officers spoke to Patterson after her arrest, she said she "came to the airport to shoot her gun but not hurt anyone," according to the court documents, and that she drove from her home in Kennewick, Washington, because she wanted to kill family members in Houston, Texas. Patterson also stated that she "did not intend to fly out of state but thought about killing her second cousin," local to the area, adding that she harbored thoughts for at least two years. She specifically referenced her mother, sister and aunt.
However, Patterson then said she "shot the gun at the airport to not go kill her family and that she did not think anyone was ever going to stop her," according to the court documents.
When detectives searched her bags, they found two boxes with 100 rounds of ammunition and expired drivers licenses belonging to Patterson, court documents said.
During Thursday's court appearance, Patterson's defense attorney claimed the incident was not attempted murder because he said the shots were fired into the ceiling and no one in the airport was close to being hit.
Nathan Vasquez, on behalf of the district attorney's office, asked that Patterson be kept behind bars without bail, saying Patterson expressed thoughts or a plan to kill her family in Texas. He said Patterson had traveled to try and carry out that plan.
The union that represents the Transportation Security Officers (TSA) at PDX expressed relief that no one was harmed.
"Transportation Security Officers at PDX understand the risks that go with protecting our airport, and we're thankful for the communications we received from the agency regarding the incident," the union said in an emailed statement.
Meanwhile, the TSA also expressed gratitude for the "swift actions of the Port of Portland police department," adding that the agency will cooperate with any law enforcement investigation into the incident.
Though no one at PDX was harmed, the gunshots sent many travelers into panic, with Kelli Sundborg, who had just flown in and was exiting a plane, taking a "big tumble on the ground" while trying to turn around and run.
"About six or eight TSA people who came rushing towards us and actually in loud voices — I would qualify it as yelling — saying, 'Go back, go back, active shooter,'" she recalled.
Patterson will be held at the Multnomah County Detention Center until her next hearing.