Several Shot, One Stabbed During Christmas Family Dispute

A violent altercation at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Christmas night left three people with gunshot wounds and one person stabbed, following what police described as a “family dispute that escalated.”

The Phoenix Police Department received reports of the incident, which occurred outside a restaurant in Terminal 4, at approximately 9:45 p.m.

“Preliminary information suggests a group of known individuals engaged in a physical altercation that escalated to one subject retrieving a handgun from their person,” a police media advisory stated.

Three people were shot, including a woman with life-threatening injuries and two men who are expected to recover. Additionally, an adult male involved in the incident sustained a stab wound and was later hospitalized in stable condition.

Authorities detained two individuals in the parking garage shortly after the altercation: an adult male and a juvenile female. Their identities have not been released.

Phoenix Police assured the public that there were no ongoing threats. “Detectives are on scene and completing an initial review to learn what led to this incident,” the department posted on X (formerly Twitter) around midnight. Terminal operations were briefly paused, and a shelter-in-place order was lifted by 10:30 p.m.

In a separate incident that evening, another man, falsely believing there was an active shooter at the airport, arrived armed and got into a confrontation with law enforcement. Police detained the individual without injuries and recovered weapons from both incidents.

Terminal 4, which serves major airlines like American and Southwest, remained partially blocked off Thursday morning as investigators continued their work.

This shocking Christmas Day altercation underscores the potential for holiday tensions to spiral into violence, even in the most unexpected places. Phoenix police have not released further details, and the investigation remains ongoing.