A man sprayed wasp killer and swung a machete at federal security agents and passengers at the New Orleans international airport before an officer shot the man several times as people frantically scrambled away, authorities and passengers say. The man later died in hospital.

Richard White, 62, approached the airport security checkpoint Friday evening, pulled out a can of the insecticide and began spraying both agents and several passengers standing in line before he then drew a large machete from the waistband of his pants, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said.

White began swinging the machete and a male Transportation Security Administration agent blocked the machete with a piece of luggage as White ran through a metal detector, Normand said.

After running through the detector, White was chasing a female TSA agent when Lt. Heather Slyve of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office drew her weapon. White continued to swing the machete as she approached, and she fired three rounds, striking him in the face, chest and leg, according to Normand.

A TSA agent also was struck in the arm by a bullet while running from White, authorities said, adding the agent's wound wasn't life-threatening.

White, who was wounded, was taken into surgery at a hospital overnight, Normand said. There was no immediate update early Saturday on White's condition.

Bystanders described minutes of panic and chaos at the airport in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner.

"Everyone was ducking for cover. It's New Orleans. I knew they (the gunshots) were coming from the security checkpoint area," said Garret Laborde, 31, a traveler trying to fly to Houston. "I immediately ducked down ... Then we waited."

He called the scene "instant chaos" with "screaming, lots of females screaming for a short period of time." Some bystanders ran to get out of the way and received minor cuts and bruises, the sheriff said.

Laborde said he remained down for several minutes. He said police then began rushing around the airport, telling everyone to duck and get back down, and that sirens went off and announcements could be heard for people to evacuate. He said the tension eased later and he was outside the airport when he saw a man being taken out on a stretcher.

Normand said investigators were trying to determine what White was doing at the airport. He said it did not appear that he was trying to get on a plane.

"At this point, we have only been able to determine that Richard White had a few minor arrests," said a sheriff's statement emailed early Saturday by agency spokesman Col. John N. Fortunato. He said authorities later found White's car outside the terminal and searched it.