Atlanta Hartsfield Shuttle Bus Manager Sues City After Stabbing by Homeless Attacker
A shuttle bus manager who was violently assaulted, stabbed, and slashed by a homeless person as he defended a female bus driver at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL) is suing the City of Atlanta for negligence, accusing the city of not doing enough to ban law-breaking vagrants from the world’s busiest airport in the months before the attack. Kwan Lawrence had only been working as a shuttle bus manager at ATL for a month before the violent and sustained assault that left him with a stab wound to his eye, a deep laceration across his nose, and a broken right wrist. Lawrence now lives with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the attack, anxiety, and sleep disorders. His medical bills since the September 2024 assault have now exceeded $80,000. According to a recently filed lawsuit in the Superior Court of Fulton County, which covers Atlanta Hartsfield, Lawrence’s attorney says the airport had experienced a “significant problem with homeless persons coming to and being present at the Airport without purpose to be there,” for several years. The lawsuit alleges that homeless people were responsible for “serious criminal activity at the Airport premises, including numerous assaults on passengers and employees present at the Airport.” The Airport, which is owned by the City of Atlanta, did not, however, take reasonable steps to prevent this criminal activity, the lawsuit alleges. On September 11, 2024, Lawrence was on duty in the main terminal when he received a report from a shuttle bus driver that a homeless person was riding her shuttle and acting in a “hostile manner” towards her and other passengers, including making “lewd, sexually threatening comments” towards the driver. Lawrence called the driver to return to the terminal, which she immediately did. When the bus pulled up at the terminal, the perpetrator initially got off the bus. Lawrence stood between the driver and the bus entrance as the perpetrator continued to make threatening comments towards the driver. Lawrence told the homeless person that he wasn’t allowed back on board the bus, at which point the perpetrator threatened to kill Lawrence. He then attempted to reboard the bus. Lawrence stood in his way and was subjected to a violent assault. The aftermath of the vicious assault suffered by Kwan Lawrence. The perpetrator pulled a knife on Lawrence, slashing him across the face and stabbing him above the eye. In the melee, Lawrence broke his right wrist. Lawrence had to be rushed to the hospital, while the perpetrator was allowed to flee the scene on foot. Only in the wake of this incident did the City of Atlanta set up a task force to combat homelessness at the airport. “Defendant [the City of Atlanta] knew or should have known that a significant number of violent crimes had been committed on the Airport premises related to the problem of homeless persons loitering on the Airport premises and engaging in criminal activity,” the lawsuit continues. The complaint alleges that the City was negligent in failing to protect passengers and employees from this criminal activity. Unfortunately, it’s not just Atlanta Hartsfield that has seen a spike in homeless persons using its facilities in recent years. A number of major airports around the world have experienced serious issues, and some have gone to great lengths to stop homeless persons from using terminal buildings as a shelter. Last May, for example, it emerged that Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain was stationing security guards at every single entrance and exit to the terminals after the number of homeless people sleeping at the airport had swelled to 500 per night. Entry to the terminal building is now only permitted with a boarding pass and loved ones must say goodbye to their loved ones at the entrance. Spain’s state-owned airport operator Aena slammed the Madrid City Council for not doing enough to help it address the problem, accusing local lawmakers of being negligent.