A gun owner fled after accidentally discharging his weapon in the security screening area at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, terrifying travelers and halting flights during the busy Thanksgiving holiday season. 

Some two hours later, officials tweeted an "all-clear" and flights resumed.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said in a statement that "early reports indicate three people sustained non-life-threatening injuries."

An arrest warrant was issued for the 42-year-old gun owner, named by police as Kenny Wells.

The incident occurred when a screening employee conducted a search due to a prohibited item identified by the X-ray, the TSA said in a statement.

"He advised the passenger not to touch the property, and as he opened the compartment containing the prohibited item, the passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed a firearm, at which point it discharged," the TSA statement specified.

The gun owner fled from the airport, airport spokesman Andrew Gobeil told CNN.

Hartsfield-Jackson was one of the world's busiest airports in 2021, according to aviation analytics provider Official Airline Guide. The Atlanta airport was expected to be particularly busy during the Thanksgiving travel period, with pre-pandemic-size crowds expected at security checkpoints from November 19 through November 28, said the TSA.

A record number of firearms were seized at U.S. airport checkpoints in just the first nine months of 2021, the TSA said.

Nationwide, TSA officers have stopped 4,495 airline passengers from carrying firearms onto their flights, surpassing the 4,432 firearms caught throughout 2019.

In Atlanta alone, there were 450 firearms detected at airport checkpoints in 2021.

(With input from Reuters)