Shots Fired on Plane; Passenger Killed

A federal air marshal fired his weapon at an American Airlines passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his or her bag and ran off of the plane, a Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to FOX News. The air marshal pursued and tackled the suspect on the jet bridge between the terminal and the airplane. “The passenger … indicated he had a bomb in his bag,” Dave Adams, a federal air marshals spokesman, told FOX News in a telephone interview. “The subject was incapacitated,” Adams said. "He was subdued.” A U.S. official told FOX News the suspect is believed to have been killed. American Airlines flight 924 was arriving at Miami-Dade International Airport on Wednesday when the incident occurred. The person was reportedly injured. "There was an incident at the Jet Bridge involving FLT 924 departing Miami for Orlando [after arriving from Colombia]. A federal marshal was involved in the incident. No further comment," American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said in a statement. Homeland Security officials confirmed to FOX News that this is the first time a federal air marshal has discharged his or her weapon since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Details surrounding the incident were not immediately clear, but footage showed medical personnel boarding American Airlines flight 924 with a stretcher and around 25 to 30 police vehicles on the scene. Sources told FOX News the person may have been unbalanced. The plane arrived from Colombia and its final destination was Orlando. The incident forced airport officials to temporarily close Concourse D but the rest of the airport remained open. Aviation experts postulated that the situation must have been seen as a dangerous one if the air marshal drew his gun. “The conditions [that would warrant an air marshal to fire his or her weapon] ought to be one where he has identified a threat to security” on the flight, Ron Goldman, an aviation attorney and pilot, told FOX News. Martin Gonzalez, spokesman for Colombia's civil aviation agency, said he had no information regarding the incident. "The flight left normally with no problems," he told The Associated Press in Bogota. He said he did not have a list of passengers who were aboard the plane