Des Moines IA Feb 17 2013 A U.S. Army captain was arrested this week after allegedly trying to take a gun and ammunition through an airport security checkpoint at the Des Moines airport.John Kurt Thompson, 33, of Fredericksburg, Va., was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with an airport regulation screening checkpoint violation.
Airport security found a Ruger handgun in Thompson’s bag. The gun was not loaded. Also found were two magazines with six rounds each, one empty magazine and a box of ammunition with 42 rounds.
Each item was found in a separate part of Thompson’s suitcase, police said.
An official with the Transportation Security Administration alerted Des Moines police about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, police reports show.
Authorities said each time an officer retrieved a prohibited item from Thompson’s suitcase, the Jefferson native said, “I don’t know how that got there.”
He reportedly later told officers that he and his girlfriend had driven to Iowa from Fort Bragg, N.C., and that she had driven back, leaving her suitcase here. Thompson told police that he’d put his own things into the suitcase before going to the airport. He said he was to report to Fort Lee, Va., by today.
The charge is a simple misdemeanor. Thompson was released from the Polk County Jail on $300 bond.
Police said they didn’t know to whom the handgun was registered.
Thompson was also arrested in September in Fayetteville, N.C., for allegedly plotting to have his ex-wife murdered, though the district attorney later dropped those charges, Fayetteville police said.
According to the Fayetteville Observer, Thompson and a woman who lived at his address asked two people if they would kill Thompson’s ex-wife. The pair allegedly offered a 2005 BMW, money and a good lawyer.
Thompson sent the newspaper a letter saying he felt he was being punished by the Army for being honest about his mental health.
According to the TSA, this was the second firearm discovered at a Des Moines checkpoint this year.
In 2012, TSA officers at airports nationwide found about 1,550 firearms in carry-on bags.
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