Miami Airport Shooting: Police Shoot Suspect On Tarmac

MIAMI, FL — A heavily armed Miami-Dade police officer chased down a knife-wielding suspect and opened fire on the tarmac of Miami International Airport Thursday night. The incident occurred as thousands of travelers were attempting to leave the Miami area ahead of Hurricane Irma. The storm is projected to hit South Florida over the weekend.

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Detective Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Police Department told Patch that he did not know how the man got the knife past airport security or whether he was a ticketed passenger. The incident occurred at 8:41 p.m. in Concourse J of the airport's South Terminal, which has 15 gates.

Police did not identify the officer or the victim, but said that the suspect was in his 30s. The officer was part of a specialized team of specially trained officers who were recently deployed to so-called soft target locations around Miami-Dade County to guard against attacks like the January mass shooting incident inside the baggage claim area of the nearby Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Former Iraq war veteran Esteban Santiago Ruiz is accused of the deadly rampage that killed five people and wounded six others.

"Calls were received in reference to a white male acting erratically," Zabaleta said of Thursday's incident. "Officers from the Incident Containment Team immediately responded to the area. The subject then ran through the restricted area and made his way to the tarmac. A confrontation ensued between the officer and the subject and the officer discharged his firearm."

The South Terminal houses 20 domestic and international carriers, including Aerolineas, Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Avianca, Bahamasair, Caribbean Airlines, Copa, Delta, GOL, IBC Airways, LAN, Lufthansa, Swiss, TAM and United.

Miami-Dade police said that there was no further threat to the airport following the shooting incident. The shooting occurred at Terminal J.

Lt. Felipe Lay of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told Patch that first responders transported one adult male from the scene. Police later said the man was in stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.

Miami International Airport officials said that Terminal J was temporarily closed as a result of the incident and that the incident involved only one person.

This was the second shooting involving a Miami-Dade police officer this week. On Tuesday, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed by a Miami-Dade police officer after the boy allegedly "lunged" at the officer with a knife, according to police. The shooting happened in the parking lot of the Spanish Villas Community along Kendale Lakes Drive and SW 65 Street.

As with all Miami-Dade police-involved shootings, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, is conducting an investigation into both incidents.

South Terminal photo by Steven Brooke courtesy Miami International Airport