Wow! An air Marshal killed a passenger that threatened to have a bomb.

This makes me feel a little safer that air marshals are not afraid to use deadly force.

Mike

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Bravo, Mr. Air Marshall!!! Thats Exactly The Kind Of Crap That Caused Them To Be On The Airplanes In The First Place And I Think He Should Get A Medal!!!!

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DAN BURESS

I believe that Air Marshall did the absolute right thing. And it sends a message not only to the terrorists that "we ain't screwing around", but also reminds people that bomb threats are very serious (not to be taken as a joke or lightly).

As BIGD said, the Marshall should be commended! I salute that Marshall and feel a little more safer flying.

I'm happy that the air marshals are on the plane, but there are a few things I have a problem with.

"Before he ran off the plane he “uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb,” said James E. Bauer, agent in charge of the Federal Air Marshals field office in Miami."

How can you utter to the effect that you have a bomb?

Next.

"No bomb was found, and federal officials later determined there was no link to terrorism. Witnesses said his wife frantically tried to explain he was bipolar, a mental illness also known as manic-depression, and was off his medication."

I don't know if you all know what a person with a bi-polar disorder can do but my best friend since I was 8 years old just recently was diagnoised after he robbed a flipping casino in Detriot Michigan. I really do not find it hard to believe a bi-polar person would do something like this...

On to the next thing.

"Officials declined to say how many times Alpizar was shot, but passengers reported hearing between four to six shots."

Four to six shots!? That is just insane, without positively knowing that he DID have a bomb or him saying, "I have a bomb," I would think the appropriate course of action to be shoot to disable not shoot to kill. In this case four to six shots is deffinately shoot to kill. Had the plane been in air I could understand such an alarming amount of force, but on the tarmac?

Whats really sad is that the media is hyping this up to be a threat to future terrorists that if you plan on coming to America to blow up airplanes our gun-slinging cowboy air marshalls will gun you down without hesitation.

Unfortunately, there are no exact quotes (yet) of what the guy said that led the Marshall to believe he had a bomb. But if (for example) a guy held his bag in the air and said, "Get out of my way or I'll blow up this plane!" I think that is good enough reason to shoot the guy.

I can appreciate your opinion (not aruguing with you...just expressing my opinion); I know where you are coming from, but I still see no fault to the Marshall whatsoever. I mean let's just say, for arguments sake, he really was a terrorist with a bomb. Should the words coming from another person whom no one knows yelling, "He's mentally ill; a manic depressant!" really affect anyone's decision? Shoot! Any terrorists would say that in order to complete their mission.

The news article states he reached into his bag before they shot him. What if his hand reached the detonator? Would shooting the guy once at that time be enough? Personally, I would have unloaded an entire machine gun on him if I had thought he would be able to reach the trigger. I mean how do you disable a guy with one shot enough to stop him from pressing a button?

The guy could have had a chemical bomb that may have killed a lot of people in the airport. It is my belief that in such a state of threat, there wasn't really time to sit back and examine the situation and all possibilities. The guy did something to lead to a bomb threat in a heavily crowded airport, he ran away, did not listen to the Marshall's order to stand down, and reached into his bag. At least the Marshall did warn the guy before shooting. It's just really unfortunate that things turned out this way for the guy and his family.

I am still 100% with the air marshal on this one.

How about, "I'm going to turn this plane into dust!" or something to that effect? It is know he said bomb twice.

This may sound mean, but he should have not been off his medication if he was flying. If he took his meds he would be alive today. If he is known to act in a manner like this, what was he or thinking? His wife obviously knew he was off his medications. Being bi-polar is no excuse. There are a lot of bi-polar people in the world, and this is the first I have heard of acting like this on an airplane.

I have a feeling you are only saying this because you have learned that he didn't have a bomb and was ill. What if we learned that he was found to have had a bomb and was a known terrorist? Would you say we should have just wounded the guy?

We all know that terrorist act together in numbers. The air marshal only has so many bullets and is usually by himself. He can’t waste bullets and time. He has to kill and look around for other terrorists.

The news is reporting that this man yelled that he had a bomb two times. He ran off the plane and attempted to run back on. He also ran toward the air marshals (after several warnings) while reaching into his backpack. From what the news is reporting today, their were two marshals.

I feel bad that this man had no bad intentions and was sick. I hope his family gets through this tough time during the holiday seasons. I hope people take this as a lesson: if you require medications, take them before flying!

Mike

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Obviously, this whole situation is tragic. I think all of us had the initial reaction that this dude had it coming, and that this would set a great example for anyone else who might get the idea to disrupt air travel in the US.

The reality is clearly more complicated, and there's little that can be said to console the grieving widow of a man who didn't really have the intention or capability to really cause serious harm.

Now, that being said, the air marshals did exactly what they should've done. They had a potentially dangerous suspect who was acting in a threatening manner. If you're going to shoot a suspect, you've already determined that deadly force is necessary. You put two shots center mass and hope he goes down. If he doesn't, you put two more shots in. These guys aren't supposed to be playing Marshall Dillon in Wild Wild West, trying to shoot the gun out of a bad guy's hand. They made the right call, and now have to live with the fact that they killed a sick man. I hope they know they did the right thing...

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