Police: Social media threat grounds Delta flight in Atlanta

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A social media threat shut down a runway and delayed flights at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The threat, made on Twitter, was against a Delta flight.

Delta says the threat was made against Flight 2234 which was scheduled to leave Atlanta at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday to Austin, Texas. Delta says when the threat came in, the flight was immediately halted and police moved in.

Delta released the following statement Wednesday:

"Out of an abundance of caution the aircraft was taken out of service prior to boarding for a security search by law enforcement. Passengers are being reacommodated on a different aircraft to their destination."

Shaheed Malik was waiting for a passenger when he saw the police cars. He took video of the blue lights surrounding the plane.

"The plane was kind of off toward the side and I saw 10, 15, maybe 20 police cars surrounding it. I knew it wouldn't be a medical emergency, I thought this is something suspicious," said Malik.

Atlanta Police swept the plane for explosives and the all clear was given.

Concern about security has been heightened since the partial Government Shutdown with fewer TSA Agents on duty at airports nationwide.

Shaheed Malik says he knows firsthand that every threat is taken seriously.

"I used to work for Delta in Pensacola, we were trained to look for threats like that. All threats need to be and should be taken seriously," said Malik.

Atlanta Police said they were asked to conduct a security sweep of the aircraft