Francisco Severo Torres is behind bars and now faces federal charges after he allegedly attacked a flight attendant and attempted to open an emergency door on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston last weekend.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for Massachusetts, on March 5 crew members were alerted 45 minutes before Flight 2609 was due to land in Boston that the starboard side door was disarmed. A flight attendant noticed that the door handle was moved to unlock position.
The attendant that secured the handle notified the other crew members, and another attendant stated that she noticed Torres by the door earlier.
“A flight attendant then confronted Torres about tampering with the door, to which he allegedly responded by asking if there were cameras showing that he had done so,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The captain was then notified that Torres might be a possible threat and he should land the plane as soon as possible after the aggressive response. A passenger started to record the incident with their cellphone, and it showed Torres getting up to speak to other passengers.
“So, where is the Homeland Security with a gun? I am waiting for them to point the gun at me so I can show everybody I won’t die and I can take every bullet in that clip to wherever in my body that they shoot it,” said Torres. “I will kill every man on this plane.”
He continued to ask, “Where is Homeland Security?”
