Sky Harbor Airport: Family dispute leads to mass shooting inside Pheonix, Arizona terminal

Christmas day travellers in the US have been left running for their lives after a reported family dispute escalated into a mass shooting inside an airport.

A busy terminal inside the Phoenix Arizona Sky Harbor Airport was thrown into chaos after a shooter reportedly began firing on members of their own family as security services scrambled to control the scene.

CNN is reporting that three people were shot and another person was stabbed at the airport during a family dispute in one of the on Christmas night.

Local police Sgt. Mayra Reeson told reporters that “the incident happened at a Terminal 4 restaurant, outside the security perimeter, where responding officers found three people with gunshot wounds at about 9:45pm (local time) on Wednesday.

Officers later reportedly detained a juvenile female and a man in the parking garage. The man had at least one stab wound, Phoenix police said.

“I believe this was a family dispute that escalated,” Reeson said, adding that police believe all five people involved know each other.

The four victims were taken to a hospital. One woman who was shot is in critical condition, while two men with gunshot wounds and the stabbing victim are all in stable condition, police said early Thursday.

Police had yet to interview those detained early Thursday, and no charges had been filed, according to Sgt Reeson. Weapons have been recovered, she added.

“We do not believe that there’s any suspects out there,” she said.

It’s not clear whether the group planned to travel or was at the airport for another reason.

“This is scary,” Reeson said. “It was Christmas evening. Everybody is trying to get home.”

The gunfire fire forced the temporary closure of Terminal 4’s security checkpoint, a Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport spokesperson told CNN in an email.

“The incident has been resolved and operations are returning to normal,” the airport spokesperson said early Thursday.

Sgt Reeson also confirmed that a man who heard misinformation about a possible active shooter at the airport arrived with a gun while police were investigating the earlier dispute. The man was detained after an altercation with police.

Police said there are “no active threats at the airport” and no flights are affected as detectives work to piece together what led to the shooting.

“Everything was resumed fairly quickly,” Reeson added, though all restaurants in the food court were closed during the incident.