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I was sitting at the United Airlines lounge at O'Hare waiting for a flight to California when the news broke that federal air marshals had shot a man in Miami who had reportedly said he had a bomb in his bag. I knew instinctively that chances were this was a case in which no bomb would be found, an instance in which the law enforcement officers of a nation on edge had used deadly force before they were sure that the threat was real. I looked across at my colleague, who was traveling on the same flight and, like me,...

When Rigoberto Alpizar visited his family in Rio Claro, Costa Rica, in July, he grew alarmed at his father's deteriorating heart condition. He took his father to see a doctor in San Jose; before returning home to the United States, says his brother Carlos, he taped little notes all over the house with a gentle reminder: "Please take your medication. I love you very much." But when it came to Alpizar's own condition—bipolar disorder—he apparently failed to heed that same advice, according to his wife's statements to authorities. Aboard a plane preparing to push away from the gate in Miami...

"....Yet The Orlando Sentinel interviewed seven passengers who claimed Alpizar wasn't saying anything at all, let alone yelling about a bomb, while no passenger backed the government's story. Alpizar turns out to have been mentally unstable and altogether harmless. It's of course possible that Alpizar claimed he had a bomb once he was out in the jetway, but it's also possible that the two air marshals who shot him panicked, and concocted the story about a bomb after the fact, to make their tragic mistake of shooting a harmless mentally ill man seem like a justifiable use of lethal force....

A Florida man who was fatally shot by U.S. air marshals at a Miami airport was a quiet, caring man, said Oklahoma missionaries who spent last week with him handing out eyeglasses to the poor in South America. Joy Sanders of Stillwater worked closely with Alpizar in the eye clinic and recognized him immediately when she saw the news reports of his death. Though the clinics were crowded and sometimes dirty, Alpizar was always patient, she said. "I remember looking over so many times and seeing him squatted down on these little tiny school chairs and bent over, leaning toward...

MIAMI - The airline passenger shot to death by federal marshals who said he made a bomb threat was agitated even before boarding and later appeared to be desperate to get off the plane, some fellow travelers said. One passenger said he "absolutely never heard the word 'bomb' at all" during the uproar as the Orlando-bound flight prepared to leave Miami on Wednesday. Federal officials say Rigoberto Alpizar made the threat in the jetway, after running up the plane's aisle from his seat at the back of the jetliner. They opened fire because the 44-year-old Home Depot employee ignored their...

MAITLAND, Fla. — Neighbors knew him as a simple man who worked in the paint department of a home-supply store and spent his leisure time tending to the yard of his ranch-style home in this Orlando suburb. Many could not reconcile that image with the one authorities painted Wednesday of Rigoberto Alpizar — that of a desperate man who ran off a plane and claimed to have a bomb in his backpack. Alpizar was shot and killed by air marshals Wednesday at Miami International Airport on his way home from a trip to South America. "He was a nice guy,...

Has Katie Couric watched too many westerns? You know, the kind where the sheriff shoots the gun out of the bad guy's hand? You'd think so, given the repeated questions she posed to a former air marshal in the wake of yesterday's shooting of a frantic passenger claiming to have a bomb aboard an American Airlines flight . Katie's guest was former air marshal Tony Kuklinski, who stated that "by all accounts I've seen, what [the air marshals] did was necessary." Katie wasn't so sure: "Do they always shoot to kill, Tony? In other words, I guess the average person...

by J.R. As many of you already know, a passenger on an American Airlines jet was shot and killed by an Air Marshal, when the male passenger stated that he had a bomb in his carry on bag. The Air Marshal attempted to apprehend the man who then ran out of the plane toward the airport terminal, when the Air Marshal caught up to the man, the man reached into the bag and was shot and killed by the Air Marshal. It was later learned, unforunately, that the man did not have a bomb in his carry on, and that...

Here we go folks...Time Magazine has published a story questioning the actions of the Air Marshals in the shooting death of the man who claimed to have a bomb at Miami Airport on 12/7/2005: At least one passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 924 maintains the federal air marshals were a little too quick on the draw when they shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar as he frantically attempted to run off the airplane shortly before take-off. "I don't think they needed to use deadly force with the guy," says John McAlhany, a 44-year-old construction worker from Sebastian, Fla. "He was getting...

Federal air marshals kill a passenger on an Orlando-bound American Airlines jetliner after the man claims he has a bomb in his backpack, authorities say. Rigoberto Alpizar bolted down the aisle of American Airlines Flight 924 shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday. In pursuit behind him, through the narrow passageway of the Boeing 757: his female companion -- police believe it was his wife -- yelling ''stop, stop'' in English and then in Spanish, ``He's sick, he's sick.'' The chaos ended quickly. Federal agents shot the Florida man after he claimed he had a bomb in his backpack. The incident drew...

A passenger on Flight 924 gives his account of the shooting and says Rigoberto Alpizar never claimed to have a bomb By SIOBHAN MORRISSEY/MIAMI At least one passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 924 maintains the federal air marshals were a little too quick on the draw when they shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar as he frantically attempted to run off the airplane shortly before take-off. "I don't think they needed to use deadly force with the guy," says John McAlhany, a 44-year-old construction worker from Sebastian, Fla. "He was getting off the plane." McAlhany also maintains that Alpizar never mentioned...

MIAMI - The White House said Thursday that two federal air marshals appeared to have acted properly when they shot and killed an agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack. No bomb was found, and authorities later said Rigoberto Alpizar, the passenger killed Wednesday at the Miami airport, was not a terrorist. Witnesses said his wife had frantically tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken his medication. "I don't think anyone wants to see it come to a situation like this," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "But these marshals appear...

Remember what I said yesterday on my show folks, that as soon as the dust settled they would be criticizing the Air Marshall who shot this man who stated he had a bomb ? Well it's already starting, and of course from our good friends in the main Stream News Media. Check out some of the headlines about the incident below: U.S. air marshal kills passenger In this headline the International Herald Tribune seems to suggest that the Air Marshall just KILLED a passanger in cold blood. Look at Bloomberg's headline: U.S. Air Marshal Shoots American Airlines Passenger or this...

by Mark Finkelstein December 8, 2005 - 07:56. Has Katie Couric watched too many westerns? You know, the kind where the sheriff shoots the gun out of the bad guy's hand? That would seem to be the case, based on the repeated questions she posed to a former air marshal in the wake of yesterday's shooting of a frantic passenger claiming to have a bomb aboard an American Airlines flight . Katie's guest was former air marshal Tony Kuklinski, who stated that "by all accounts I've seen, what [the air marshals] did was necessary." Katie wasn't so sure. "Do they...

An agitated passenger was shot and killed by air marshals at Miami International Airport after he allegedly bolted from a jet, saying he had a bomb. The man, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44-year-old ...

Federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News they had been on the alert for a possible shoe bomber when a federal air marshal opened fire at the Miami International Airport today. In today's incident, an agitated passenger claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal, officials said. No bomb was found. Officials say a 50-year old Egyptian man was stopped six days ago at New York's John F. Kennedy airport. Sources say he had a suspicious pair of shoes that tested positive five times for the explosive substance TATP on the...

Today, we watched the aftermath of a tragic event on national television. A man, who appeared somewhat deranged and irrational, was shot and killed by a Federal Air Marshall. The man, who claimed to possess a bomb , was threatening his fellow passengers and causing much chaos in the area. Even though a witness ( the mans wife ) claimed he did not have a bomb and gave reason for the mans actions, the man was still shot dead by a Federal Air Marshall anyway. Now that it has been proven the man did not have a bomb, and presented...

MIAMI (AP) - An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was about to take off, officials said. No bomb was found. The man, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, was gunned down on a jetway just before the American Airlines plane was about to leave for Orlando, near his home in Maitland. It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at anyone, Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian...

MIAMI — An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was boarding for take off, officials said. No bomb was found. It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at anyone, Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Doyle said. Another federal official said there was no apparent link to terrorism. The passenger, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, was gunned down on a jetway just before the American Airlines...

Passenger killed by air marshal An American Airlines passenger who claimed to be carrying a bomb was shot and killed by an air marshal while trying to flee a plane arriving from Medellin, Colombia, at Miami International Airport on Wednesday, U.S. officials said. "Shots were fired as the team attempted to subdue the subject," a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman said. The passenger was a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, the spokesman said. A law enforcement official said "no device has been located at this time." The incident took place as American Airlines flight 924 arrived from Medellin for a stopover...