Air Marshals Cleared In Passenger Shooting

Federal Air Marshals "demonstrated remarkable restraint in dealing with" an unarmed man whom they shot nine times and killed outside a parked airliner at Miami International Airport. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's office has determined the unidentified marshals were "legally justified" in killing Rigoberto Alpizar when he bolted from the aircraft after the Air Marshals say he told other passengers that he was carrying a bomb and would detonate it. (AVweb has found no report that includes a named witness aboard the packed aircraft who heard the man say he had a bomb.) The names of the Air Marshals were not released and they will be flying again, "shortly," according to a TSA spokesman quoted by the Miami Herald. The marshals fired nine times after he reached into a backpack that he was wearing on his chest and, according to one of the marshals, said, "I'm going to blow up this bomb." There was a bottle of water in the backpack.

avweb.com