Passenger killed by air marshal

Yahoo news ^ | 12/7/05

[stm]

The ACLU phones are probably ringing off the hook right now.

I smell about a dozen wrongful death suits in the making......"Trigger happy Air Marshall shoots unarmed mentally ill passenger"

[wolficatZ]

'I hef a-bomp'

LOL. That's very clever!

[Semi Civil Servant]

Don't mess with a marshal.

[jwpjr]

Kinda wonder if perhaps this guy hadn't swallowed one or more condoms filled with cocaine and one of the broke, flooding his system with the drug. His actions sound consistent with a cocaine overdose.

Just a random thought.

[Revolting cat!]

Don't mess with a marshal.

[syriacus]

The air marshals launched a pre-emptive strike against a threat based on the best information available.

Good summary.

[vigilante2]

never bring a bomb threat to a gun fight

[edcoil]

Wife says he was bi-polar would that cause you to say you have a bomb and run?

Point of story:

Muslims now know - bother a flight - die.

enuff said

[syriacus]

Thanks for the summary of DU postings.

[IntheHillsGolden]

Let's just hope the Marshall is congratulated and rewarded in some way for a job well done.

[MediaMole]

It was pretty clear that this sort of crap was a death sentence last summer when the guy was beaten to death by passengers after he rushed the cockpit -- no air marshals needed.

[dreamspyrt]

The passenger shot and killed had arrived earlier in Miami on a flight from Quito, Ecuador. He then cleared U.S. Customs and was boarding the flight to Orlando, federal officials said... Airline spokeswoman Martha Pantin said that, before the incident, all passengers on the flight from Medellin had cleared customs at MIA, even if they were continuing on to Orlando.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/travel/13351198.htm

I am not so sure I believe the air marshalls' story so far.

After the marshals confronted the man aboard the plane, the passenger dashed down the aisle and out the door of the aircraft -- the air marshals in pursuit as he headed through a tunnel linking the Boeing 757 with boarding gate D-42 in Concourse D. ''The passenger immediately fled through the jetway and was running toward the terminal,'' said Gonzalez. ``The air marshals were in pursuit and ordered the subject down on the ground.''

Then, she said, the man ``appeared to be reaching into the carry on bag.''

''At that point, the marshals took appropriate action,'' she said. ``And the shots were fired.''

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/travel/13351198.htm

So, when the passenger and air marshalls are off the plane in the jetway, the man - according to air marshalls, says he has a bomb.

this is the point where I become skeptical.

The air marshalls first must mistrust the security system, that is, the man - according to air marshalls - claims he has a bomb - reaches toward his backpack - and the air marshalls believe him. Therefore, air marshalls do not trust the security system. Why do they allow anybody to board an airplane if they don't trust the security is good enough to detect a hidden bomb?

Next, the air marshalls must think a terrorist will first board the plane, then instead of waiting until after takeoff to detonate the bomb, the terrorist will get off the plane before it takes off, and when cornered in an enclosed jetway where there are no security cameras, threaten he has a bomb.

It all just doesn't sound logical.

It doesn't even sound like a poor movie.

We will never really know whether the man "muttered" (Nancy Grace progRam 8 pm EST) he had a bomb or not. We will never know whether air marshalls tripped, set off a shot, and another air marshall fired a shot, or likely even how many times the passenger was shot. (PASSENGER: heard 3 shots) We will never know if air marshalls were telling the truth, or not.

[peteram]

Why do they allow anybody to board an airplane if they don't trust the security is good enough to detect a hidden bomb?

This is true. And this question was posted on other threads as well. It could be that the Air Marshalls were simply reacting to the situation at the moment without stopping to consider that this man had to go thru security to get on board in the first place.

So then are we (the average flying public) to surmise that IF the Marshalls thought that he did have a bomb despite the stringent security/customs checkpoints, that there is material out there that can pass through security undetected and blow up an airliner?

Makes you go, "Hmmmm....."

[dreamspyrt]

Reports are there is going to be an investigation and hearing. Hopefully, it will all be thorough, and eyewitness testimony of other passengers won't be suppressed.