A federal judge has denied bond for the Georgia man arrested after his family told police that he was planning a shooting at the Atlanta airport.

Billy Joe Cagle, 49, made his first appearance in an Atlanta federal courtroom on Wednesday afternoon.

Cagle's court appearance comes more than a week after federal prosecutors charged him with attempted violence at an international airport, interstate communications containing threats, and possession of a firearm as a felon. In court, a grand jury indicted Cagle on the three charges he had been arrested on.

These charges are in addition to the local charges he's facing, which include terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and more.

Investigators say Cagle is a convicted felon, and the FBI is working to learn how he obtained the rifle that he allegedly brought with him to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

While the defense argued that Cagle was having a mental crisis at the time of his arrest and asked for him to be on house arrest before moving him into an inpatient mental facility, the judge sided with the prosecutors by denying, saying he "couldn't fathom conditions of release."

Cagle spoke very little at the hearing, answering the judge's questions with the responses "Yes, sir" and "No, sir."

An urgent search for a shooting suspect

Cagle threatened to "shoot up" the world's busiest airport on a FaceTime call while driving, abruptly ending the call after saying, "I'm at the airport, and I'm gonna go rat-a-tat-tat," prosecutors said in a news release.

Officials say the family member Cagle was talking to drove to the Cartersville Police Department to report the threat. Cartersville police alerted the Atlanta Police Department and shared images of Cagle and a description of the truck he was alleged to be driving.

Prosecutors at Wednesday's hearing say Cagle's family had told police he was not taking his medication, and was "drinking heavily, smoking marijuana and using cocaine." 

Police say the Cartersville man arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a Chevrolet pickup truck that was parked outside the doors to the South Terminal. When officers went to the vehicle, they found an AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition, Atlanta Police Chief Darrin Schierbaum said.

"Cagle senselessly threatened to do heinous violence to innocent travelers, at the world's busiest airport, with a high-powered weapon that he had no legal right to possess," U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said in the statement.

Around 25 minutes after Cagle arrived at the airport and 14 minutes after the APD received the alert, two Atlanta police officers approached him and took him into custody. In body camera footage shared by police, Cagle is heard screaming as the officers take him to the ground and put handcuffs on him.

Officer Myesha Banks has been serving with the Atlanta Police Department at Hartsfield-Jackson for nearly three years. She said the moment she spotted Cagle, her training kicked in.

"I did go into tunnel vision and all of my skills and everything I learned just came as one, and that's when I just went into straight police mode," Banks said. "Got the description and just look for the person, proceed with caution. The reason that I walked up so comfortably is because I did my visual observation."

She said that as soon as she was able to put a hand on Cagle's back, she knew that what could have been a serious situation had been mitigated.

"I felt something shift. I felt that whatever he had in his mind to do, I was going to stop it," Banks said.

Suspect's family and friends react to his arrest

Nick Roberts, who has known Cagle since high school, texted his friend Sunday night after being concerned by Facebook posts he had made. He said Cagle was struggling with mental health issues. Cagle had posted on Facebook earlier Sunday that he is schizophrenic and was taking medication.

Roberts said Cagle called him at about 9 p.m. Sunday and assured him he was OK. Roberts said Cagle loved his two daughters and worked hard hauling hay and doing fencing work.

"I want folks to know that he wasn't some monster," Roberts said. "This was a very big surprise for a lot of us that went to high school with him and know him in the community."

Scott Nelson, Cagle's brother, told CBS News Atlanta that the family was in shock but glad they went to the police.

"I know he took some medication, and when he don't take it, he starts hallucinating and stuff," Nelson said. "He's never hurt anybody. I'm shocked that he went to the airport."

Nelson said his brother, who works at a hay farm in Cartersville, has long struggled with mental health challenges. The family immediately called the police when they saw his alarming post.

"It was his immediate family who contacted police," Nelson said. "We were just trying to stop something before it got worse."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.