An investigation was under way on Wednesday night into the fatal shooting of a mentally unstable passenger by federal air marshals at Miami airport. Officials said the passenger, a 44-year-old American man, Rigoberto Alpizar, had claimed he had a bomb in his hand luggage and was asked to leave the plane, an American Airlines flight to Orlando, while it was still at the gate.
James Bauer, a spokesperson for the Federal Air Marshal Service, said: ”He was holding a backpack and uttered a threat that he had a bomb.” Bauer said Alpizar had ”attempted to avoid” the marshals and ”they fired shots with the result that he is deceased”.
Other reports quoted unnamed officials as claiming that Alpizar had refused to drop his bag on the jetway leading to the terminal and advanced ”aggressively” towards the marshals while reaching into the bag, government officials said.
Witnesses said they heard at least three shots, and Alpizar was declared dead before reaching hospital. Police took three bags from the plane and blew them up on the airport tarmac, but no explosives were found.
Bauer said: ”There is no reason to believe there is any nexus to terrorism” and called the incident an ”isolated event”.
It is the first time US air marshals have opened fire on a passenger since the programme of placing guards on commercial airliners was expanded after the September 11 attacks.
Official sources said Alpizar arrived in Miami from Ecuador after an argument with his wife on the flight to the US. After passing through US customs, he boarded the flight to Orlando and then began making bomb threats.
An eyewitness told a local television station that the man’s wife had warned he was mentally ill. ”He was frantic, his arms flailing in the air,” the passenger, Mary Gardner, said. Gardner said the man had run down the aisle from the back of the plane, followed by a woman shouting ”My husband! My husband!” She also heard the woman say her husband was bipolar and had not taken his medication.
Dave Adams, a spokesperson for the marshal service, said marshals on board the plane had warned Alpizar several times to stop and drop the bag, before ”discharging their weapons”. He said the investigation would be carried out with the FBI, the transportation security administration and the Miami police.
Although America has been using air marshals since 1968, it embarked on a major recruitment drive after the events of September 11, when it was revealed that only 33 were in service. President George Bush ordered a dramatic rise in numbers, prompting 200 000 applications.
US air marshals are responsible for detecting, deterring and defeating hostile acts that target US air carriers, airports, passengers and crews. Recruits are put through a seven-week basic law course and taught marksmanship, defence tactics and first aid.
They then learn how to put their skills into practice in the field. Because of the nature of the threats they face, air marshals are trained to shoot more accurately than any other US law enforcement agents and use bullets that fragment inside the body to minimise damage to plane and passengers. – Guardian Unlimited Â