3 shot, 1 stabbed in Christmas night dispute at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, police say
Three people were injured when shots were fired at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Christmas night, police said. Another person was stabbed. One patient is in critical condition.
A second incident involving a gun followed, authorities said.
According to police, around 9:45 p.m., officers responded to reports of a shooting outside a security checkpoint at a restaurant in Terminal 4 and found a woman and two men suffering from gunshot wounds. All were hospitalized. The woman’s condition is listed as life-threatening. The men are currently in stable condition.
Police later detained a man and a teenage girl in the parking lot. He was taken to hospital with at least one stab wound and is in stable condition. Initial indications were that she was injured.
Police said preliminary information indicates that the people involved knew each other and that “a physical altercation ensued and the conflict escalated” when one of them pulled out a gun. It’s unclear which one.
Police said no one else at the airport was injured. Security checkpoints were temporarily closed as a precaution and Skytrain operations were suspended, but police said “the incident has been resolved and operations have returned to normal.”
Police said a man then received a text message at the airport about a possible shooter, showed up with a gun and got into an “argument” with an officer. He was taken into custody and booked on multiple charges. Police say the two incidents are unrelated.
