Stabbing leaves man seriously injured at Miami airport, police say

One person was seriously injured in a stabbing at Miami International Airport late Saturday night (20), according to the Miami-Dade Police Department. Two concourses were evacuated after the incident.

In a press release on Sunday morning (21), authorities highlighted that airport operations were back to normal.

The investigation indicates that the suspect and the victim were on the fourth floor of Terminal J at around 11:30 p.m. local time when the attack occurred, the statement said.

“Without provocation, the subject attacked the victim, stabbing her multiple times, and attempted to throw her over the railing. The victim managed to escape the attack and ran down the stairs to the third floor, which is where the police found her,” they said.

The suspect was detained at the scene, police said. Authorities also recovered a knife.

The Miami-Dade Fire Department took the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition, the statement 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 re-screened, airport officials said.

“We want to assure the public that the situation is under control and that the safety of our passengers, employees and visitors remains our top priority,” an airport statement said. “Authorities responded immediately and the situation was quickly contained.”

Miami-Dade police continue to investigate Saturday’s attack, the department’s statement said, noting that reports of a possible active shooter who 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 incidents of unruly passengers have been reported.

“The rate of unruly passenger incidents has steadily declined by more than 80 percent since record highs in early 2021, but recent increases show there is still more work to be done,” the administration said.