MIAMI -- A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday on a jetway to an American Airlines plane that was about to leave Miami International Airport for Orlando, officials said.

Jim Bauer, the Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Air Marshals service in Miami, said a passenger indicated there was a bomb in his carry-on bag. The passenger was confronted by air marshals but attempted to run off the plane.

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Images: Shots Fired On Plane
Video: Passenger Describes Shooting
Video: Shooting Shocks Neighbors

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A team of air marshals pursued and ordered the passenger to get on the ground. The passenger complied, then was shot when apparently reaching into a bag.

"At some point, he uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb," Bauer said. "There were federal air marshals on board the aircraft. They came out of their cover, confronted him, and he remained non-compliant with their instructions. As he was attempting to evade them, his actions caused the FAMs to fire shots and, in fact, he is deceased."

"None of the other 113 passengers onboard were affected or were ever in any danger. This was an isolated incident," the airline said in a news release, adding that it would have no other comment.

NBC 6's Nick Bogert reported that the man killed was 44-year-old Rigoberto Alpizar, of Maitland, Fla.

NBC 6's sister station in Orlando, WESH-TV, spoke with Alpizar's mother-in-law, Stephanie Buechner, at his home. She said Alpizar and her daughter, Anne, were married for nearly 20 years. She said they do not have any children, and he suffered from bipolar disorder.

Alpizar, a U.S. citizen, was flying through Miami from a working vacation to Peru, said his brother-in-law, Steven Beuchner. A neighbor, Louis Gunther, said he was watching Alpizar's home while he and his wife were on a missionary trip.

"We're all still in shock. We're just speechless," said Kelley Beuchner, Alpizar's sister-in-law.

The incident occurred around 2:10 p.m., or about two hours after the plane arrived from Medellin, Colombia. The plane was preparing to continue on to Orlando.

The Orlando-bound flight, American 924, was subsequently canceled, according to the Orlando airport's Web site. American Airlines officials did not say how the 105 passengers would get to Orlando.

Miami International Airport was never closed. Concourse D, where the incident took place, was shut down for about 30 minutes, said Miami airport spokesman Marc Henderson. Air traffic continued as usual by mid-afternoon.

No Bomb Found On Man's Carry-On Baggage

Federal officials said a bomb squad detonated Alpizar's carry-on bag. No bomb was found in the bag.

"The plane was cleared of all passengers and the possessions that were in the deceased's possession have been examined by the Miami-Dade Police Department bomb squad and have been cleared," Bauer said. "There were no explosives involved that we are aware of, at least on this plane."

Alpizar had no criminal record in Florida, according to state law enforcement documents.

A high-ranking federal air marshal interviewed by WESH said, "They (federal air marshals) try to use as little force as possible until their back is forced. When he went in the bag, they had to assume he was going for a triggering device. I'm sure they had given him verbal commands the entire time. He obviously disregarded them. They couldn't let him get his hand in the bag for obvious reasons. They don't know what kind of trigger he would have on the bomb. Even if there isn't a bomb, they don't know that."

There were only 32 air marshals at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush administration hired thousands more afterward, though the exact number is classified.

"There is no reason to believe right now that there is any nexus to terrorism, or that, indeed, any other events are associated with this one," Bauer said. "As a tactical matter, the Federal Air Marshals, as has been reported, did deploy federal air marshals to airports throughout the country in a surveillance mode to see if, in fact, other events were unfolding. We have no reports of other events that would lead us back to this isolated event."

Bauer said that Miami-Dade police would be handling the ongoing investigation.

"The investigation is ongoing. It's sort of preliminary," said Bobby Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department. "We know enough to know that the airline is secure, the bags are all secure, and there really is no bomb at this point."

Passenger Says Man Was Frantic

Mary Gardner, a passenger on Flight 924, told NBC 6 that she heard four to five shots fired. Gardner was a guest on NBC 6's South Florida Today show at 10 a.m. She spoke about inexpensive Christmas gifts.

Gardner called NBC 6 and said she was seated in the third row of the coach section of the aircraft. She saw a man run frantically through the aisle from the back of the plane to the first class area before the shots were fired.

She said a woman who was apparently traveling with the man was screaming, "My husband. My husband."

"Her husband ran through the aisle frantically. She ran after him and all of a sudden there were four or five shots," Gardner told NBC 6 via cell phone.

Gardner also said she heard the lady say that her husband was bipolar and had not taken his medication.

Gardner said she was not sure if the shooting happened in the first class section of the airplane or outside on the jetway.

Alan Tirpak, a 31-year-old engineer from Winter Springs, said Alpizar was wearing a fanny pack or some type of bag as he "ran up through the skinny aisle as fast as you can."

Another passenger, Lucy Argote, 15, from Codazi, Colombia said police boarded the plane, kept passengers on for about an hour, then eventually told them to leave with their hands behind their backs -- and without taking any of their possessions. Argote did not have her passport when she and other passengers arrived in Orlando late Wednesday night, about seven hours behind schedule.

Argote said Alpizar got up from his seat and started running toward the plane's door, with his wife yelling in Spanish.

"Officers told him to stop and he said no. ... He was running like a crazy man," Argote said.

Passenger Mike Deshears, who works for the Marriott vacation club in Orlando area, said that as the couple ran, "a gentleman in a Hawaiian shirt immediately followed. ... It was a matter of seconds before there was six pops."

The wife returned to get her bag and was profusely apologetic, he said. "She said it was her fault that he was bipolar. He was sick and she had convinced him to get on the plane."

After the shooting, police boarded the plane and told passengers to put their hands on their head. Gardner said the passengers onboard remained calm and were later escorted off the plane and onto a bus.

"It was quite scary," she said. "They wouldn't let you move. They wouldn't let you get anything out of your bag. ... Thank God everybody seems to be fine."

No other injuries were reported.