Passenger shot dead by U.S. air marshal
Airliner was on the ground at Miami airport at time of incident
Dec. 7, 2005. 04:03 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI — A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot dead by a federal air marshal today on a jetway connected to an American Airlines plane that had arrived from Colombia, officials said.
A Homeland Security official confirmed the shot passenger is dead.
A witness said the man frantically ran down the aisle and a woman with him said he was mentally ill.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Doyle said after the plane had parked at the gate, a passenger indicated there was a bomb in the bag. The passenger was confronted by air marshals but ran off the plane, Doyle said.
A team of air marshals pursued and ordered the passenger to get on the ground. The passenger did not comply and was shot when apparently reaching into the bag, Doyle said.
Passenger Mary Gardner told WTVJ in Miami that the man ran down the aisle from the rear of the plane. “He was frantic, his arms flailing in the air,” she said. She said a woman followed, shouting, “My husband! My husband!”
Gardner said she heard the woman say her husband was bipolar and had not had his medication.
The plane, Flight 924, had just arrived from Medellin, Colombia, and was headed on to Orlando.
American Airlines officials confirmed the shooting was on a jetway.
“All I know is that it was on the jet bridge, outside the aircraft,” American spokesman Tim Wagner said.
Flight 924 arrived at Miami airport at 12:16 p.m. EST and was scheduled to depart at 2:18 p.m., Wagner said. He said the shooting happened shortly after 2 p.m., suggesting passengers may have already been preparing to depart for Orlando.
Martin Gonzalez, spokesman for Colombia’s civil aviation agency, said the flight “left normally with no problems.”
