Officials: Passenger Who Made Threat Shot

Yahoo! News ^ | 12/7/05 | JOHN PAIN

[libertarianPA]

MIAMI - A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot by a federal air marshal Wednesday on a jetway connected to an American Airlines plane that had just arrived from Colombia, officials said.

The passenger's condition was not immediately disclosed.

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 a bag, Doyle said.

The plane, Flight 924, had just arrived from Medellin, Colombia, and was headed on to Orlando.

Airport and Miami-Dade County police officials said they had no immediate comment. 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. "I don't know yet if the passenger had been on the plane and was getting off, or was starting to board the aircraft."

Martin Gonzalez, spokesman for Colombia's civil aviation agency, said the flight "left normally with no problems."

He said he did not have a list of passengers who were aboard the plane.

[thoughtomator]

Fly safe... fly naked.

[Tenacious 1]

"This is the first time an air marshal has fired on or near a plane."

Sorry..."Trained to be acurate with side arms in confined spaces."

[Question_Assumptions]

I heard that, before 9/11, "I have a bomb!" could get you a very special tour of the White House if yelled while on the tour. Now I suspect it would get you very dead.

[Cautor]

Good. One less terrorist we need to deal with today.

[colorado tanker]

Great time to relax those TSA requirements, eh?

Last time I checked bombs still weren't on the approved list.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

"This is the first time an air marshal has fired on or near a plane."

Sounds like a precedent to me.

[trisham]

Fly safe... fly naked.

******************

ROFL!!

[SJSAMPLE]

Unless you actually reload for 357SIG.
Then you curse them!

[ASA Vet]

I'm waiting to find out which frangible bullet they used.

[ctdonath2]

At one point I considered that line of work; asked my instructor what to get, and that's what he recommended. (Said instructor very well may have taught that air marshal.)

[thoughtomator]

We still don't know whether there was actually a bomb in the bag, do we?

[HOTTIEBOY]

Looks like their training paid off. Also save the taxpayers alot of money. Bullets are cheap.
I would say they are trained to be patient too. I mean, at what point is the last alternative to fire in a crowded plane at 30,000 feet. I would say most of their training is to deescalate.

[bcsco]

Update: Fox News is reporting the man ran up the aisle of the plane claiming to have a bomb (he was on the plane coming from Columbia). A team of air marshals confronted him and he then placed his hand in his bag( another report has him turning on the air marshals); it was at that time they shot him. Conflicting reports state he may have been killed.

Further, another report from Fox News claims he was a 44 year old American, who's wife was on board. She has stated to local news (according to Fox) that he was mentally unstable, suffering from bipolar disorder, and had not taken his medications.

Whatever! Mental instability, or one's irresponsibility in not taking medications on time is no excuse for threatening behavior. Air marshals have a very narrow window to operate in, and must make decisions in 'real time'. Even had they heard his wife (or anyone) state he was mentally imbalanced, how do they know she is speaking the truth? They can only react to what they are confronted with.

However, if this guy indeed failed to take his meds on time - and his wife is accompanying him - what responsibility does she share in this situation? As a person who must take numerous medications daily to exist, I know that my wife would be insufferable should I pass a dose. My meds don't make me a danger to the public through disuse, but one would think in this case she could be held somewhat responsible for a person who could be considered a possible threat.

[HOTTIEBOY]

no bomb in the bag

[Talking_Mouse]

Fly safe... fly naked.

Startle, and perhaps intrigue, your fellow passengers

[HOTTIEBOY]

ACLU is packing it's bags and headed for Miami as we speak.

[Neanderthal]

Well was there a bomb or not? The reporter left out this small detail.

[King Koffee]

Will the dums. hold a candlelight vigil for the bomber?

[brushcop]

Yeah, just got through watching/listening to the CNN know-it-all achorette that was talking about how the suspect's luggage would have been scanned and apparently no reported suspicion of a bomb.

Wonder if she ever read the account of Ramzi Yousef's bombing of a PAL airliner with a bomb that not only passed through the scanners but was easily hidden in a shaving kit. Blew a hole in the deck, killed one passenger, just missed the intended target, the central fuel tank.

I guess all bombs have to look like the proverbial cartoon spherical bomb with a fuse (fuze? -- Army manual preferred spelling) sticking out of it being tossed back and forth between a wabbit and a funny looking hunter.

[conservativewasp]

"ACLU is packing it's bags and headed for Miami as we speak."

That will never happen, the guy was white.