Official: Passenger killed after claiming to have bomb
Wednesday, December 7, 2005; Posted: 3:37 p.m. EST (20:37 GMT)
Officials gather outside the door of American Airlines Flight 924 Wednesday in Miami.
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) – Federal air marshals shot and killed a man on a boarding bridge at Miami International Airport after he said he had a bomb, two sources familiar with the incident told CNN.
Flight 924 was in Miami on a stopover during a flight from Medellin, Colombia, to Orlando, Florida, when the man said there was a bomb in his carry-on luggage, a Department of Homeland Security official said.
He was confronted by a team of federal air marshals, who pursued the man down the boarding bridge and ordered him to get on the ground, the official said.
When the man appeared to reach into his baggage, at least one shot was fired by the marshals, wounding the man, the official said, adding that marshals’ actions were consistent with their training.
Upon investigation, there was no evidence that the man had a bomb, an official said.
This is the first time an air marshal has fired a weapon on or near an airplane, a federal official said.
Footage from the scene shows armed SWAT team members carrying rifles outside the aircraft, along with more than a dozen of police vehicles. Paramedics were standing on the stairway to the aircraft.
The Boeing 757, which can hold about 180 passengers, was due to take off for Orlando at 2:18 p.m. ET. It had arrived in Miami at 12:16 p.m. ET. No other flights at Miami International were disrupted Wednesday, an airport official said.