Man Charged With Stabbing Officer at Airport Had Tried to Buy a Gun, F.B.I. Says
After the attack, the authorities said, Mr. Ftouhi yelled "Allah" several more times and shouted, "You have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die." Mr. Gelios attributed the attack to Mr. Ftouhi’s "hatred for the United States and a variety of other things." The authorities said
that Mr. Ftouhi had legally entered the United States on Friday at Lake Champlain before making his way to Flint.
He arrived at the airport on Wednesday morning, and Mr. Gelios said the authorities were looking for people
who may have seen Mr. Ftouhi during the time he entered the United States and the attack on Wednesday.
Mr. Gelios said the authorities were still trying to determine why Mr. Fhouti drove from Montreal to Flint, Mich., for the attack,
but Mr. Gelios said he may have chosen the location, the Bishop International Airport, because it had the word international in it.
By CHRISTOPHER MELE and MATTHEW HAAGJUNE 22, 2017
A Montreal man charged with stabbing a police officer in the neck at a Michigan airport on Wednesday
tried to buy a gun before the attack but was denied, the authorities said on Thursday.
After that purchase failed, Mr. Ftouhi decided to attack with a knife, which he bought in the United States, the authorities said.
Mr. Ftouhi shouted "Allahu akbar" — the Arabic words for "God is great" —
and plunged a 12-inch knife into the neck of the police officer, Lt. Jeff Neville, on Wednesday morning at the airport in Flint, officials said.
