Related: Shots fired on board American Airline plane in US 

American Airlines Flight 924, a Boeing 757, sits at Gate 42 at Miami International Airport, December 7, 2005.(Photo: Xinhua/REUTERS)

    Beijing, Dec. 8 (Xinhuanet)-- US air marshals on Wednesday shot and killed an American Airlines passenger at Miami International Airport, Florida.

    While many details remained confused, federal officials said the 44-year-old American made threats and indicated he had a bomb in his bag as he was boarding a flight that had arrived from the Colombian city of Medellin and was heading to Orlando, Florida.

    The man, who arrived in Miami from Quito, Ecuador, was identified tentatively as Florida resident Rigoberto Alpizar. 

    The passenger was ordered to stop by the air marshal, and was shot and wounded when he tried to run away on the jetway linking the plane to the terminal at the airport.

    A Homeland Security official in Washington later confirmed that the passenger was dead.

    "The passenger then reached into his carry-on bag, at which point, consistent with air marshal training, the air marshals took the appropriate actions. Shots were fired as the team attempted to subdue the subject," said a Department of Homeland Security spokesman.

    The US air marshals service said it was the first time one of them had actually fired on a passenger since the program was beefed up after September 11. Enditem

    (Agencies)