Dec. 26 (UPI) — Operations are back to normal at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport Thursday after an apparent family fight erupted into gunfire in the airport’s busiest terminal Wednesday night, injuring four people, one critically.
A fight broke out near the shopping and dining area of Terminal 4 at about 9:40 MST Christmas night. Three people were shot and another sustained a stab wound, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
According to police, the altercation broke out between five people who knew each other and one person drew and fired a gun. One of the victims reportedly sustained life-threatening injuries in the incident, which took place outside a security checkpoint near a restaurant on the terminal’s third level.
“Officers were on the scene fairly quickly because they are here at the airport,” said Phoenix police spokesperson Mayra Reeson on Thursday afternoon.
Three arrests were made, including of a person who police said had heard that there was an active shooter at the airport and showed up in the terminal with multiple weapons. Court records identified the man as 21-year-old Cole Elliott Nenon.
Reeson stressed that Nenon was not involved in the original altercation and had shown up to the airport after receiving a text from someone about an active shooter.
“There was no active shooter; there never was,” Reeson said.
Reeson said Nenon’s arrest was unrelated to the family disagreement that allegedly led to the shooting in Terminal 4.
A girl and a man with a stab wound were detained in connection to that shooting, Reeson added.
A member of the janitorial staff said he heard three successive gunshots in Terminal 4.
“I do believe that this was a family dispute that escalated,” Reeson said during the media briefing. “We do not believe there is any suspect out there outstanding. I want to put everyone at ease.”
She said there were no other injuries and did not know at that time where the people were from. The airport suspended its automated train shuttle service and temporarily closed the security checkpoint leading to the gates.
Flights were not affected, an airport spokesman said, and operations were quickly back to normal once the scene was secure and the suspects had been taken into custody.
Police have not released the identities of the victims or a motive for the shooting, other than saying that it appeared to be an argument among people who knew each other that escalated.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego took to social media to decry the incident. Police continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the shooting.