PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Four people were injured in a shooting and possible stabbing incident that stemmed from a fight inside Terminal 4 of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on Christmas night.
Phoenix police and fire officials responded to reports of gunfire at a restaurant within Terminal 4 outside of the security checkpoint around 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday. Officers quickly arrived at the scene and found three people who had been shot.
According to police, it began as a fight between three adults and two teenagers who knew each other. Authorities say one of the adults then pulled out a gun and fired multiple rounds, hitting a woman and a teen who were involved in the altercation.
The injured teen was armed with a knife and reportedly cut the armed man.
Police say the woman was rushed to a hospital and stabilized, but remains in critical condition. The injured teen is also hospitalized along with another man involved in the fight, who suffered minor injuries.
Additional officers responded and detained the armed man and a teenage girl in the parking garage. The man was hospitalized with at least one cut or stab wound and is also in stable condition.
Everyone involved in the incident was located and identified. Police say no one has been arrested in connection with the altercation and that a charging decision will be made once the investigation is complete.
The Terminal 4 security checkpoint and the PHX Sky Train were temporarily closed during the investigation and have since reopened. Airport operations returned to normal on Thursday morning.
Arizona’s Family was on the scene when, just two hours later, an armed man arrived at the airport after a relative told him about the shooting. Court documents identify the man as 21-year-old Cole Elliott Nenon.
“This man received a text message that he believed there was an active shooter at Sky Harbor. This was not an active shooter. There never was. And he arrived at the airport with firearms,” Sgt. Reeson said.
According to court documents, Nenon handed his weapons to other people at the airport before approaching one officer. An officer witnessed an airport operations employee holding a small gun and a rifle, repeatedly asking police, “What do I do?” At that point, Nenon walked up to the officer at “a very fast pace” as the officer was standing near the crime scene barrier.
Nenon reportedly held his hands out to the officer and said, “arrest me,” in a loud, aggressive voice. According to documents, the officer asked him to step back when Nenon began raising his voice and repeating, “kill me, kill me.”
Court paperwork says Nenon began “acting irate” and yelling at the officer, who then forced him to the ground. During the scuffle, he reportedly spat at the officer and hit him the face, knocking off his glasses. Video shows him attempting to roll over and get up when he was tackled with the help of a good Samaritan.
Authorities stressed that Nenon was not involved in the original shooting.
“That is unrelated to this [shooting]. He got into an altercation with a police officer. The officer was not injured, but there was an altercation.” Reeson said. “Again, not related to the incident. Nobody was injured in this incident.”
Multiple officers detained Nenon, and he was booked on one count of aggravated assault on a police officer. Three firearms were recovered.
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