MIAMI, Fla. — One person was critically injured in a stabbing at Miami International Airport late Saturday evening, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department, prompting the evacuations of two concourses.
Normal airport operations have since resumed, police said in a news release Sunday morning.
The investigation so far indicates the male suspect and the victim were on the fourth floor of Terminal J around 11:30 p.m. when the attack happened, the release said.
“Without provocation, the subject attacked the victim by stabbing her multiple times and attempted to throw her over the railing,” the release said. “The victim was able to escape the attack and ran down the stairs to the 3rd-floor level, which is where the officers found her.”
The suspect was taken into custody at the scene, police said. Authorities also recovered a knife.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue took the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition, the release said.
Passengers were evacuated from Concourses H and J in the airport’s south terminal as a precaution, and operations resumed after all passengers were rescreened, airport officials said.
“We want to assure the public that the situation is under control and the safety of our passengers, staff, and visitors remains our top priority,” a statement from the airport said. “Authorities responded immediately, and the situation was swiftly contained.”
Miami-Dade Police continue to investigate Saturday’s attack, said the department’s statement, which noted reports of a possible active shooter that emerged in “the midst of the chaos,” turned out to be false.
The Federal Aviation Administration received more than 2,000 reports of unruly passengers in 2023, a 15% decrease from the previous year. So far in 2024, nearly 900 unruly passenger incidents were reported.
“The rate of unruly passenger incidents steadily dropped by over 80 percent since record highs in early 2021, but recent increases show there remains more work to do,” the administration said.
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