US airline passenger who made threat killed (AP) Updated: 2005-12-08 06:33
MIAMI - A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot and
killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday on a jetway to an American Airlines
plane that had arrived from Colombia, officials said. No bomb was found in the
bag, a U.S. official said.
American Airlines
Flight 924, a Boeing 757, pictured in this image taken from video, sits at
Gate 42 at Miami International Airport, December 7, 2005.
[AP] | Homeland Security Department spokesman
Brian Doyle said the dead man was a 44-year-old U.S. citizen. It was the first
time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at anyone, he said.
According to a witness, the man frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing
757 while his wife tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken
his medication.
The passenger indicated there was a bomb in his bag and was confronted by air
marshals but ran off the aircraft, Doyle said. The marshals went after him and
ordered him to get on the ground, but he did not comply and was shot when he
apparently reached into the bag, Doyle said.
The shooting occurred shortly after 2 p.m. as the plane was about to take off
for Orlando after about two hours on the ground in Miami. "I don't know yet if
the passenger had been on the plane and was getting off, or was starting to
board the aircraft," airline spokesman Tim Wagner said.
After the shooting, investigators spread passengers' bags on the tarmac and
let dogs sniff them for explosives.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
information's sensitivity, said authorities examined the bag and found no
explosives.
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