Oh No! Hall of Fame Center Bill Rusell was arrested earlier this week. It appears that Mr. Russel had a fire arm in his carry-on bag. The gun was loaded. He was taken into custody at Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle.
According to CNN:
Russell was issued a citation and released. He had a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in a forbidden area of the airport, said Lisette Garcia, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman.
The gun was found during a screening of carry-on bags at a checkpoint, the TSA said.
“Firearms, ammunition, firearm parts and realistic replicas of firearms are always prohibited in carry-on baggage. However, these items can be transported in checked baggage provided the traveler declares them to the airline during the ticket counter check-in process,” a TSA statement said.
Russell could also be potentially fined for up to 75,000 for carrying the illegal weapon in the airport, according to the TSA.
He has released a statement post incident.
“Before boarding my flight from Seattle to Boston, I had accidentally left a legal firearm in my bag. I apologize and truly regret the mistake,” he said. “I was issued a citation by the TSA, whose agents couldn’t have been more thorough and professional when dealing with this. I really appreciate their efforts to keep air travel safe.”
He was an 11-time NBA champion with Boston and coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 1973-77.
Russell will be honored with a statue at Boston’s City Hall Plaza that is scheduled to be unveiled at 2 p.m. on Nov. 1. There will be a Special Ceremony to Honor Boston Celtics Legend Bill Russell.
“I am happy to see the Celtics embrace mentoring and create this program that benefits children.” Bill Russell said. “My lifelong passion is to help the mentoring of children and the biggest honor of my career was to be Captain of the Boston Celtics.”
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