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Man killed after bomb claim at airport
Official: Air marshals fired after he approached them aggressively
Wednesday, December 7, 2005; Posted: 5:26 p.m. EST (22:26 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A 44-year-old U.S. citizen who claimed to have a bomb was shot and killed when air marshals opened fire on a boarding bridge at the Miami airport, several sources told CNN.
American Airlines Flight 924 was in Miami on a stopover during a flight from Medellin, Colombia, to Orlando, Florida, when the man, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, said there was a bomb in his carry-on luggage, a Department of Homeland Security official said.
Alpizar was confronted by a team of federal air marshals, who followed him down the boarding bridge and ordered him to get on the ground, the official said. ( Watch the aftermath of the shooting -- 1:36)
When Alpizar appeared to reach into his baggage, he was shot and wounded, the official said, adding that the marshals' actions were consistent with their training. Officials said later that the man died of his injuries.
Upon investigation, there was no evidence that Alpizar had a bomb, an official said.
Alpizar was traveling with a woman and had arrived in Miami on a plane from Ecuador, federal officials said. He and the woman began arguing before getting off the plane in Miami, two officials said.
After he got off the plane in Miami and went through customs, he got on the Orlando-bound plane and said he had a bomb, Air Marshal Service spokesman Dave Adams said.
Air marshals asked him to get off the plane, which he did, but when they asked him to put his bag down, he refused, Adams said. Alpizar then approached the marshals in an aggressive manner, at which point two or three shots were fired, he 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 showed armed SWAT team members carrying rifles outside the aircraft, along with more than a dozen 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, according to the airline's Web site. No other flights at Miami International were disrupted Wednesday, an airport official said.
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