A person was arrested for allegedly stabbing a fellow passenger with a makeshift weapon made from pens and rubber bands throughout an Alaska Airways flight.
Per a number of retailers, the wild incident occurred because the flight from Seattle to Las Vegas was getting ready to land at Harry Reid Worldwide Airport on Jan. 24.
A witness advised investigators that the suspect, Julio Alvarez Lopez, was being “fidgety” through the flight, which took off at 6:10 a.m. After coming back from the restroom, Lopez unexpectedly “started punching and hitting the sufferer,” who was seated throughout the aisle together with his spouse and 7-year-old son.
The witness additionally reported seeing “blood in every single place” from the ambush, including that Lopez dropped a “pen and tape bundle” through the incident.
After Lopez stopped stabbing the sufferer, he launched the do-it-yourself weapon and walked towards the entrance of the airplane.
He then yelled, “I’ll solely discuss to the FBI,” as flight attendants “labored to supply flex cuffs” to restrain him for “the rest of the flight,” per court docket paperwork obtained by NBC.
In keeping with Telemundo, Lopez made the pen weapon shortly earlier than the flight.
“The plane landed safely, and regulation enforcement took one passenger into custody after the airplane arrived on the gate,” Alaska stated in a press release to NBC on Thursday. “We’re grateful for our crew for his or her professionalism within the dealing with of the incident.”
Lopez advised FBI brokers he had by no means met the sufferer, who was recognized by the initials “C.R.” in court docket paperwork, however “felt the mafia had been chasing him the previous few months.”
In keeping with the paperwork, Lopez advised authorities he “deliberate on attacking and killing him,” including that he was aiming for his eye to succeed in his mind.
Lopez was apprehended by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Division after the flight landed round 8:37 a.m.
Neither Alaska Airways nor the FBI Las Vegas subject workplace instantly responded to JHB’s requests for remark.
C.R. suffered non-life-threatening accidents in one in all his eyes, and the sufferer’s spouse was reportedly additionally struck through the assault as she tried to protect their son, per court docket paperwork.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Lopez on the assault cost, CBS affiliate KLAS reported. He’s resulting from return to court docket on March 1.