On Christmas night, a heated family argument turned violent at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona, leaving three people shot and another stabbed. The incident unfolded at a restaurant in Terminal 4, outside the security area, around 9:45 p.m., according to Phoenix police.
Police Sergeant Mayra Reeson explained that the fight started as a family dispute but quickly escalated. Officers rushed to the scene and found three people suffering from gunshot wounds. Two suspects—a young girl and a man—were later detained in the airport’s parking garage. The man also had a stab wound.
All four injured individuals were taken to the hospital. Among them, a woman who was shot is in critical condition, while two men with gunshot wounds and the man with the stab wound are stable, police said. Thankfully, it seems everyone involved in the incident knows each other, and investigators don’t believe there are any other suspects.
“This is scary,” Reeson said. “It’s Christmas evening, and everyone’s just trying to get home.” She noted that weapons were recovered and confirmed that there was no threat to the general public. However, details about why the group was at the airport—whether to travel or for another reason—remain unclear.
The shooting caused Terminal 4’s security checkpoint to temporarily shut down, though airport officials said operations returned to normal fairly quickly. Unfortunately, all the restaurants in the food court had to close during the investigation.
Adding to the chaos, a separate incident occurred when a man, misled by rumors of an active shooter at the airport, showed up with a gun. Police detained him after a confrontation, but there was no connection between this man and the earlier family dispute. Reeson emphasized that there were no active threats at the airport, and flights continued without disruption.
As detectives piece together what led to the violence, the scene has returned to relative calm. “Everything was resumed fairly quickly,” Reeson said, reassuring travelers that the situation was under control.
