Canadian charged in airport attack

FLINT, Mich. - A Canadian man shouted in Arabic before stabbing a police officer in the neck Wednesday at a Michigan airport and referenced people being killed overseas during the attack, federal officials said.

Amor Ftouhi, 49, of Quebec was immediately taken into custody. A criminal complaint charging him with committing violence at an airport says Ftouhi asked an officer who subdued him why the officer didn’t kill him.

The attack at Bishop International Airport in Flint is being investigated as an act of terrorism, but authorities have no indication at this time that the suspect was involved in a “wider plot,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge David Gelios.

“At this time we view him as a lone-wolf attacker,” Gelios said. “We have no information to suggest any training.”

The criminal complaint says Ftouhi stabbed airport police Lt. Jeff Neville with a large knife after yelling “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great.” According to the FBI, Ftouhi said something similar to “you have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die.”

More charges against Ftouhi could be filed as prosecutors take the case to a grand jury seeking an indictment, Gelios said.

Neville was in satisfactory condition after initially being in critical condition.

The attack occurred just before 10 a.m., prompting officials to evacuate and shut down the airport and add security elsewhere in the city about 50 miles northwest of Detroit.