Shortly after boarding an Orlando-bound plane, passengers say, they saw a man bolt from his seat and run down the aisle, with his screaming wife and man in a Hawaiian shirt behind.
"My husband! My husband!" one passenger said she heard the wife cry.
The chase ended moments later Wednesday in a Miami International Airport jetway, when authorities say Rigoberto Alpizar appeared to reach for his bag. He was shot to death by the man in the Hawaiian shirt and a second pursuer, both undercover air marshals.
Before he ran off the plane he "uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb," said James E. Bauer, agent in charge of the Federal Air Marshal Service field office in Miami.
No bomb was found, and federal officials later concluded there was no link to terrorism. Witnesses said his wife, Anne, frantically tried to explain he was bipolar, a mental illness also known as manic-depression, and was off his medication.
"She said it was her fault that he was bipolar," said Mike Deshears, a Flight 924 passenger who works for a vacation club in Orlando. "He was sick and she had convinced him to get on the plane."
Dave Adams, a spokesman for the air marshals, confirmed Thursday there were two marshals on the flight and said both fired at Alpizar.
"They felt their life was threatened," he told ABC's "Good Morning America.""This was a textbook scenario and they acted instinctively based on the training."
1 comment:
"Before he ran off the plane he "uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb," said James E. Bauer, agent in charge of the Federal Air Marshal Service field office in Miami."
TO THE EFFECT ???
My God, talk about weasel words !!!
I promise you: This guy had a panic attack and tried to get off the plane. He never said anything about a bomb and he was not a threat to anyone. And a couple of gung ho idiots also panicked and shot him.
Mark my words.
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