allegedly attacked yesterday by an unknown assailant at the Murtala
Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, wielding a syringe.
U.S. law enforcement officials told ABC News they were alarmed by the
bizarre, unprovoked attack because the assailant was apparently able
to inject an unknown substance into the back of one of the air
marshal's arms. The air marshal was traveling with a team of other
marshals when the attack took place in an unsecured area of the
airport terminal in Lagos, the officials said. He was able to board
the United Airlines flight to Houston he was scheduled to work and was
met early this morning in Houston by FBI agents and health workers
from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Continue....
Amid fears the substance could contain some form of the Ebola virus,
the air marshal was immediately put into quarantine.
The FBI said he was screened "on-scene… out of an abundance of
caution." An FBI spokesperson said,
"The victim did not exhibit any signs of illness during the flight and
was transported to a hospital upon landing for further testing. None
of the testing conducted has indicated a danger to other
passengers."Health experts say most infectious agents would not
immediately manifest or make the patient contagious. While the unknown
assailant ran away and could not be located, officials said the other
air marshals on the team were able to secure the needle and bring it
on the flight for testing in the U.S.
U.S. air marshals travel undercover in plain clothes and it would not
be immediately obvious to an attacker that his target was an American
law enforcement agent, officials say.
"While there is no immediate intelligence to confirm this was a
targeted attack, this is our reminder that international cowards will
attempt to take sneaky lethal shots at our honorable men and women
abroad," said Jon Adler, the national president of the Federal Law
Enforcement Officers Association.
Source: ABC News
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