Airline passenger shot dead at MIA!

[philippio]

Airline Passenger Who Made Threat Killed

By JOHN PAIN,

Associated Press Writer

30 minutes ago

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

Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Doyle said the dead passenger was a 44-year-old U.S. citizen.

It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at a passenger or suspect, he said. A witness said that the man frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757 and that a woman with him said he was mentally ill.

The passenger, who indicated there was a bomb in the bag, was confronted by air marshals but ran off the aircraft, Doyle said.

The marshals pursued and ordered the passenger to get on the ground, but the man did not comply and was shot when apparently reaching into the bag, Doyle said. Authorities did not immediately say whether any bomb was found.

Passenger Mary Gardner told WTVJ in Miami that the man ran down the aisle from the rear of the plane. "He was frantic, his arms flailing in the air," she said. She said a woman followed, shouting, "My husband! My husband!"

Gardner said she heard the woman say her husband was bipolar and had not had his medication.

The plane, Flight 924, had arrived from Medellin, Colombia, at 12:16 p.m. and was scheduled to depart two hours later for Orlando, American Airlines 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," he said.

The shooting happened shortly after 2 p.m., suggesting passengers may have already been preparing to depart, he said. About 105 passengers scheduled to fly to Orlando, he said.

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

There were only 32 air marshals at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush administration hired thousands more afterward, though the exact number is classified.

[mdamon7278]

Stupid Saleen, oh well, when is the next house party?

[funketeer]

Now, that's what I call a "one way ticket"

rest in pieces

[justinjohnson]

...and then no bomb was found...seriously.

[arnoldjch]

I smell an ACLU lawsuit

[funketeer]

apparently the guy was coocoo for cocoa puffs and hadn't taken his medication

[sgtfury]

makes absolutely no difference if a bomb was found or not. if someone seriously indicates that they have a bomb, then air marshalls have to assume the worst. they guy was ordered not to move and he went for his bag.

sorry but the shooting was justifiable.

[funketeer]

makes absolutely no difference if a bomb was found or not. if someone seriously indicates that they have a bomb, then air marshalls have to assume the worst. they guy was ordered not to move and he went for his bag.

sorry but the shooting was justifiable.

sad but true, you're right

[justinjohnson]

makes absolutely no difference if a bomb was found or not. if someone seriously indicates that they have a bomb, then air marshalls have to assume the worst. they guy was ordered not to move and he went for his bag.

sorry but the shooting was justifiable.

I know, I agree. We all would have done the same thing if we were in the marshall's position.

[funketeer]

crazy thing is this comes almost as a response to last week's announcement that homeland security was at its lowest since the paranoic extreme use of security that followed 9/11 that seemed to have eventually faded.

apparently that's not the only "low" about homeland security, read this article...the last thing we need is a homeland security offcie with low morale

http://www.slate.com/id/2126313/

[philippio]

crazy thing is this comes almost as a response to last week's announcement that homeland security was at its lowest since the paranoic extreme use of security that followed 9/11 that seemed to have eventually faded.

apparently that's not the only "low" about homeland security, read this article...the last thing we need is a homeland security offcie with low morale

http://www.slate.com/id/2126313/

Like everything else the government does to make its citizens feel safe, this is another half-assed attempt to convince us that we are protected from harm by the mighty Uncle Sam. The fact of the matter is, everyone knows that it was just an act put on to comfort us after 9/11. Nothing has changed. It's all psychological bullshit. And all it does is keep the media off Washington's back until the next "security breach" occurs.

[darkangelta]

PWNED.

[marcodavalos]

Saddest thing to date is that passengers get checked .. carry-on baggage gets checked ... luggage gets checked, yet CARGO in the belly of the aircraft and underneath passengers feet IS NOT CHECKED! 4 years after 911.

http://www.pbs.org/perl/media.cgir?t=w&f=virage/newshour/pbsnh120505_220k.asf&s=2362209&e=3137754&extn=.asx

or Screening for Air Cargo http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec05/commission_12-5.html

.