US man hijacks small plane in Belize, stabs 3 people before he’s shot dead

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Authorities at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport (P.G.I.A.) say they were alerted to a U.S. man who was hijacking a small plane in Belize on Thursday.

The man stabbed two passengers and a pilot, before one of the stabbed passengers fatally shot him, according to officials in Belize and the United States. The passenger was licensed to carry a firearm and later turned his weapon over to the police.

“We are praying for him,” Chester Williams, Belize police commissioner, told reporters. “He’s our hero.”

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A view of the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City, taken on April 17, 2025.  (JOSE A. SANCHEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Williams identified the hijacker as Akinyela Taylor and said he was a U.S. military veteran, a report by The Associated Press said. U.S. officials could not confirm the Belize police commissioner’s statement that Taylor was a military veteran.

The air flight Cessna Caravan V3HIG from Corozal to San Pedro had 14 passengers and 2 crew members onboard, the statement from P.G.I.A. said.

A full emergency was declared immediately after the incident started and the aircraft circled in random directions for approximately two hours until finally landing safely at the P.G.I.A., according to a statement by the Belize Airport Concession Company.

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Tourists queue at the Tropic Air counter at Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City on April 17, 2025.  (JOSE A. SANCHEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said at a news briefing in Washington that officials were still gathering information about what occurred.

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“Horrifying,” she said. “We are grateful, I think all of us are, that it did not turn into a mass casualty event with, I believe, over a dozen people on the plane. Clearly we know a few details. We don’t know much more.”

U.S. officials said they did not know the motive for Taylor’s hijacking but were working with Belizean authorities to determine what happened.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.