JFK Airport panic caused by celebration over Usain Bolt's Olympic victory, sources say

Monday, August 15, 2016
NEW YORK CITY -- It appears a 911 caller mistook a raucous celebration over Usain Bolt's Olympic victory Sunday night for a problem at JFK terminal 8, police sources told ABC News.

By the time police responded at 9:34 p.m., the report had morphed into "shots fired" and one of the biggest airports in the world was shut down for more than three hours.
[Ads /]
Port Authority Police spent the day scouring security camera footage and still can find no images or audio that suggest anything like a gunshot occurring Sunday night.

During the time of the shutdown, police went through every corner of the packed American Airlines terminal searching for evidence of a gun, a victim or bullets. Nothing was found. The false alarm at terminal 8 led 45 minutes later to a second false alarm at terminal 1 which was also shut down and searched.

RELATED: Video shows panic inside JFK Airport after gun scare
[Ads /]
Keep checking abc7NY for the latest on this developing story.
Copyright © 2026 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.