Alaska Airlines passenger stabs fellow flyer during in-flight fight

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According to federal court records reported by the New York Post, an Alaska Airlines passenger, identified as Julio Alvarez López, allegedly attacked a passenger during a heated argument midway through a flight from Seattle to Las Vegas on January 24. During this, an attack on another passenger was planned and executed.

According to documents reviewed by 8 News Now, Lopez was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and charged with “one count of assault with a dangerous weapon,” the NYP reports. .

During the altercation, Lopez allegedly began attacking a man sitting in the aisle, and attempted to stab him in the eye as he returned from the restroom. The victim’s wife, who was protecting their 7-year-old son, also became the target of the alleged attacker.

“During the fight, [the victim’s] The wife was yelling at the defendant to stop hitting her husband,” an FBI agent noted in the document. ,[A witness] Unbuckled his seat belt and yelled at the defendant to stop, the New York Post reports.

Investigators found a makeshift weapon, consisting of a pen and a bundle of rubber bands, that Lopez used during the attack. According to the report, Lopez yelled after the incident, “I’ll just talk to the FBI.”

The report said witnesses described a scene of blood and noted that a “pen and tape bundle” had fallen to the floor, resulting in serious injuries to the male victim.

According to the NYP report, a law enforcement officer on board instructed Lopez to sit down, and crew members restrained him for the remainder of the flight using a flex cuff. Upon landing, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department apprehended Lopez at 8:30 am.

López later confessed that he planned the attack because he thought he was being followed by the Mafia. He claimed to be unfamiliar with the victim but expressed his intention to kill him. Lopez, who was seeking asylum in the United States, alleged that the victim was associated with “the Cartel” and was stalking him.

Lopez is scheduled to return to court on March 1, following a federal grand jury indictment on assault charges, Fox News reports.