Wife tried to 'calm' passenger

2005-12-09 11:35

Miami - The passenger killed by air marshals in Miami on Wednesday had been agitated before boarding the plane, singing "Go Down Moses" as his wife tried to calm him.

Alan Tirpak, a passenger on the fated flight, said: "The wife was telling him, 'Calm down. Let other people get on the plane. It will be all right. I thought maybe he's afraid of flying."

Tirpak added that Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, had bolted up the aisle before the plane left the airport.

Two air marshals confronted Alpizar, fatally shooting him as he tried to flee.

Brian Doyle, spokesperson for the US homeland security department said: "He was belligerent. He threatened that he had a bomb in his backpack.

"The officers clearly identified themselves and yelled at him to 'get down, get down.' Instead, he made a move toward the backpack."

There was no bomb

Later reports say Alpizar wasn't carrying a bomb. No connection to terrorism has been found.

Two passengers have said they didn't hear Alpizar mention a bomb.

Instead, they say Alpizar's wife, Anne Buechner, was yelling "that's my husband, that's my husband - I need to get to my husband! My husband is bipolar. He didn't take his medicine."

The couple were returning home from a missionary trip to Ecuador.

On Thursday, Alpizar's sister-in-law, Jeanne Jentsch, read a short statement from the family, describing him as "a loving, gentle and caring husband, uncle, son and friend".

John Amat, a deputy with the US marshals service in Miami, said marshals are "trained to shoot to stop a threat, and the situation on the jetway at Miami International Airport on Wednesday appeared to pose one."

White House spokesperson Scott McClellan added Washington's backing, saying the two air marshals appeared to have acted properly when they shot to kill.

- AP