Police try to determine what prompted JFK Airport 'shooting' chaos

Usain Bolt's Olympic 100-metre victory may have prompted ultimately unfounded reports of gunshots at JFK airport. Photo / AP

Authorities say travellers at New York's Kennedy Airport cheering and loudly celebrating Usain Bolt's Olympic 100-metre victory may have prompted ultimately unfounded reports of gunshots there.

That's among the possibilities being probed by investigators trying to determine what led to a series of evacuations at the airport yesterday.

Investigators also are interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage to figure out what caused the chaos.

Reports are surfacing that shots were fired in JFK Airport's Terminal 8. Photo / Getty Images

An internal New York Police Department briefing document obtained by The Associated Press says patrons started to act "extremely disruptive" after watching the Olympics.

The timing of Bolt's gold medal success roughly corresponded with an anonymous 911 call from a woman reporting gunshots in Terminal 8.

Police say more than 20 people subsequently called 911.

Authorities scoured the terminal and determined no shots had been fired.