| American Airlines Flight 924 |
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American Airlines Flight 924 is a regularly scheduled flight from Medellín , Colombia to Orlando, Florida , United States , with a stopover at Miami, Florida , United States . DECEMBER 7TH, 2005 SHOOTING INCIDENT On Wednesday, . The flight from Medellin went without incident, and the plane remained at the gate while it was prepped to continue onto Orlando as a domestic flight, taking in passengers from many connecting cities, as well as passengers originating in Miami and those continuing on from Medellín. At approximately 2 PM EST, as the plane was finishing boarding and all 114 passengers were being seated, an agitated 44-year-old American passenger named Rigoberto Alpizar , who had arrived in Miami with his wife on an American Airlines flight from Quito , Ecuador , was having an argument with his wife . He got up from his seat saying, "I have to get off the plane" and ran for the door which the flight crew had not yet closed. His wife chased after him yelling, "He's sick." She was followed by a Federal Air Marshal . Two air marshals confronted him near the cockpit when, according to James E. Bauer, Alpizar "uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb." He was told to stop but continued off of the plane and was confronted again in the jetway of gate D42 and told to get on the ground. When Alpizar didn't comply he allegedly reached into his backpack and was shot. Conflicting reports put the number of shots between 3 and 6. Eye witness reports from other passengers reveal a different story than the one from federal agents. {Link without Title} Upon investigation, there was no evidence that Alpizar had a bomb. Although no explosives were found, three bags which were believed to have belonged to Alpizar were blown up by police. An eye-witness, John McAlhany, said afterwards in an interview, "I never heard the word 'bomb' on the plane," ... "I never heard the word bomb until the FBI asked me did you hear the word bomb." The D concourse at Miami International Airport was temporarily evacuated following the shooting, and was re-opened around 3 PM EST. Alpizar was a resident of the Central Florida town of Maitland , Florida . He was flying with his wife, who during the incident ran frantically after him, allegedly shouting that he was Bi-polar and had not taken his medication. This incident was the first time that a federal air marshal fired a weapon on or near an airplane. A press conference was held on December 7, 2005 at approximately 6:15 PM EST regarding the shooting. At this press conference the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) stated that Alpizar had no connections to terrorist organizations. An initial investigation by the CNN's The Situation Room shows that Rigoberto Alpizar's wife, Anne Buechner, worked for an organization assisting the mentally ill and disabled. SEE ALSO REFERENCES |
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