Bernie Kerrick says the shooting was completely justified.

Well, that settles it. No need for an investigation.

On Faux News. I know, I know, I couldn't resist. I just wanted to hear how Fox spins it that Bush's policies are working. This mentally ill person MIGHT have been an Ayrab terrerist.

I wonder if he had a "heavy coat" and a "back-pack".

A witness said that the man frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757 and that a woman with him said he was mentally ill.

The marshals pursued and ordered the passenger to get on the ground, but the man did not comply and was shot when apparently reaching into the bag, Doyle said. Authorities did not immediately say whether any bomb was found.

Passenger Mary Gardner told WTVJ in Miami that the man ran down the aisle from the rear of the plane. "He was frantic, his arms flailing in the air," she said. She said a woman followed, shouting, "My husband! My husband!"

Gardner said she heard the woman say her husband was bipolar and had not had his medication.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20051207/ap_on_re_us/airplane_shooting_14

There were a lot of "eye-witnesses" saying things that turned out to be completely false and the police were admonished for not correcting the record because the fictional accounts furthered their cause.

For starters, the "I have a bomb" part seems fishy to me but, unlike Fox, I'm willing to keep an open mind till the investigation is over.

I knew a man in Ak. who shot some one in the face who knocked on his truck window and he bought his way our of it. He was into the stuff that makes you think every one is after you. He left AK poor and free the other guy left in a box. I do not feel safer with every one having a gun.

As a flight attendant I feel deep sorrow for this passenger if in fact he was mentally ill, however that being said there have been hijackings that involved mentally ill passengers. If the victim had in fact been a passenger with a bomb and the whole plane went up the air marshals would be criticized for not doing there job. Due to the incompetency of this administration and not heeding the warnings prior to 911 we have become a society of shoot first ask questions later. Not into sarcasm in this situation. My husband flys reqularly in and out of Miami, he is on his way down right now, he's a pilot. It is sad when his daughter calls to find out if her dad is ok.

Does not make sense so far.

And it had been rigged to blow up if he was killed, we'd have a plane full of dead people. No matter how you look at it, this was just horrible procedure by that air marshall.

The jetbridge is attached to the aircraft, if there was a bomb on the jet bridge that went off the aircraft would have gone up with it. If they had let him continue on the aircraft and he did have a bomb it would it have been more of a disaster. The aircraft was sitting there, the passengers were boarding which means that aircraft had already been fueled. Rather have a bomb go off on the jetbridge rather than aircraft. Actually would rather have no bomb.

What a concept.

Why exactly they shot hime dead. What if he was a terrorist. He's off the plane already. He's got the bag in his hand. Are the Air Marshalls taught to always shoot to kill? I mean if he was a terrorist it seems like it would have been useful to take him alive.

...but I'm willing to bet it's not as easy as it looks on TV. I'm sure the first thought in an air marshall's mind is "shoot to stop", and whether the suspect lives or dies is really more of a matter of chance.

I feel very sorry for all concerned if the man was mentally ill - however, if he DID say he had a bomb, as is being reported, then I can't fault the air marshall for doing what he thought he needed to do (and what he was likely trained to do) to protect the plane.

So I hope he is a better shot than I am. The question is "Is shooting dead possible bombers the American Air Marshall Policy". Cause it seems to me to be 9/10 thinking.