Passenger's Family 'In Shock'

The Rigoberto Alpizar neighbors knew was a simple man who worked in the paint department of a home-supply store and spent his leisure time tending to the yard of his ranch-style home in this Orlando suburb.

Many could not reconcile that image with the one authorities painted Wednesday — that of a desperate man who ran off a plane and claimed to have a bomb in his backpack. Alpizar, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by air marshals at Miami International Airport on his way home from a trip to South America.

Alpizar's brother-in-law, Steven Buechner, said Alpizar was a native of Costa Rica.

"He was a nice guy, always smiling, always talkative," said Louis Gunther, a neighbor who said he was watching Alpizar's home while he and his wife were on a missionary-type trip. "Everybody is talking about a guy I know nothing about."

Alpizar was gunned down on a jetway Wednesday afternoon just before his American Airlines plane was about to leave for Orlando. According to a witness, Alpizar frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757, flailing his arms, while his wife tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken his medication.

Air marshals confronted Alpizar and ordered him to get on the ground. They said he did not comply, and was shot. It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at anyone, federal officials said.

"This whole neighborhood is shocked. ... Totally uncharacteristic of the guy," said Alex McLeod, 16, who lives three houses down on the opposite side of the street from Alpizar.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that Alpizar has no background record and is not connected to any terrorist group.

No one answered the door Wednesday evening at the Alpizars' modest, four-bedroom house on a tree-lined street. A car was in the driveway, and television crews milled about. Many neighbors did not want to talk about the incident. Those who did were stunned, as were Alpizar's relatives.

"We're all still in shock. We're just speechless," said his sister-in-law, Kelley Buechner, in a telephone interview from Milwaukee.

Alpizar arrived in Miami from Quito, Ecuador, earlier Wednesday, said Rick Thomas, the federal security director at Miami International Airport. Relatives said Alpizar was returning from a trip to Peru.

Alpizar's brother-in-law Buechner, said Alpizar met his sister when she was an exchange student in Costa Rica. Alpizar and Steven Buechner's sister, Anne, had been married about 22 years, relatives said.

"Rigo was a very quiet guy," said Charles Baez, 33, who was Alpizar's boss at MAB Paint Store in Winter Park until Alpizar left for a job at Home Depot three years ago. "It's very strange that he would ever do anything like this. ... You never know what people go through, but he always seemed really normal to me."