Federal air marshal fires shot on US plane.

so much for "ending the stigma of mental illness".

shooting him if he did menace people AND then threatened to detonate a bomb would be excusable, although tragic.

shooting him if he was just acting unusual and said notihng explicit about setting a bomb off is NOT excusable, and assuming this was the true scenario the only dangerous menace on that plane WERE THE MARSHALS THEMSELVES. if we both agree that dangerous, menacing people on passenger flights should be proactively shot, WHO REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT IN THIS SCENARIO?

be careful, you may have to think.










[edit on 8-12-2005 by victor was right]

I was told that it's the Flight Marshal's policy that if you shoot, you shoot to kill? Is this true? Does anyone else find this a bit harsh?

Ok, I received a warning for my "Bi-Polar" remark and it was well deserved. It was a stupid thing to say.....I was Wrong.


Maximu§

So, did he ACTUALLY have a bomb, or did he just state that he did?

Originally posted by trocious1
I was told that it's the Flight Marshal's policy that if you shoot, you shoot to kill? Is this true? Does anyone else find this a bit harsh?

in some cases a straight kill is the only option
because it could mean the life and death of many people

other then that it depends on the cercimstances

Originally posted by Omniscient
So, did he ACTUALLY have a bomb, or did he just state that he did?

They didn't find a bomb in his bag and they searched everyone else's bags(destroyed 2) and found nothing.

It would be nice if people at least tried to get a story right. Many passengers heard the statement about the bomb and said so while being interviewed by the press. His wife heard him say it as well and tried to stop them because she knew he was ill. Just wanted the truth to be included somewhere in this string.

Miami Bomb Incident Starts to Look Suspicious

Time Magazine reported the comments of one of the passengers on board American Airlines Flight 924. This is what he had to say,

"I never heard the word 'bomb' on the plane," McAlhany told TIME in a telephone interview. "I never heard the word bomb until the FBI asked me did you hear the word bomb. That is ridiculous."

So if we are to believe this eyewitness, the 'madman' Alpizar never claimed to have a bomb, therefore his only crime was running on a grounded plane.

If he didn't announce that he had a bomb then why was it necessary to shoot him dead?

McAlhany's account of the drama takes on an even more intriguing turn when we consider the following from Time Magazine,

When the incident began McAlhany was in seat 24C, in the middle of the plane. "[Alpizar] was in the back," McAlhany says, "a few seats from the back bathroom. He sat down." Then, McAlhany says, "I heard an argument with his wife. He was saying 'I have to get off the plane.' She said, 'Calm down.'"

Alpizar took off running down the aisle, with his wife close behind him. "She was running behind him saying, 'He's sick. He's sick. He's ill. He's got a disorder," McAlhany recalls. "I don't know if she said bipolar disorder [as one witness has alleged]. She was trying to explain to the marshals that he was ill. He just wanted to get off the plane."

McAlhany described Alpizar as carrying a big backpack and wearing a fanny pack in front. He says it would have been impossible for Alpizar to lie flat on the floor of the plane, as marshals ordered him to do, with the fanny pack on. "You can't get on the ground with a fanny pack," he says. "You have to move it to the side."

By the time Alpizar made it to the front of the airplane, the crew had ordered the rest of the passengers to get down between the seats. "I didn't see him get shot," he says. "They kept telling me to get down. I heard about five shots."

McAlhany says he tried to see what was happening just in case he needed to take evasive action. "I wanted to make sure if anything was coming toward me and they were killing passengers I would have a chance to break somebody's neck," he says. "I was looking through the seats because I wanted to see what was coming.

"I was on the phone with my brother. Somebody came down the aisle and put a shotgun to the back of my head and said put your hands on the seat in front of you. I got my cell phone karate chopped out of my hand. Then I realized it was an official."

In the ensuing events, many of the passengers began crying in fear, he recalls. "They were pointing the guns directly at us instead of pointing them to the ground," he says "One little girl was crying. There was a lady crying all the way to the hotel."

McAlhany said he saw Alpizar before the flight and is absolutely stunned by what unfolded on the airplane. He says he saw Alpizar eating a sandwich in the boarding area before getting on the plane. He looked normal at that time, McAlhany says. He thinks the whole thing was a mistake: "I don't believe he should be dead right now."

[edit on 9-12-2005 by uknumpty]

uknumpty

Thanks for that bit of information, that is exactly what I heard in the news.

It seems that the only terrorist tread in that plane was the Marshals after all.

I think that every single passenger that was threatened by this cowboys should sue the heck of them and make as much fuss as possible.

These "Officials" need to go back to school, I think that because the lack of money they are hiring anybody out there with not background what so ever but just on how to pull the trigger.

Yeah Marge that's a great idea, Sue, Sue, Sue and Sue! Boy it solves so many problems

Anyway, one man out of 100+ passengers said he did hear the word bomb and we’re supposed to assume that just because he didn’t hear the word it was never said? I find this more reassuring than disturbing, I know that when I fly the fellow with Hawaiian shirt has got my back.