Authorities have identified the man accused of jumping from a Southwest Airlines plane as it was being taxied to the gate, CBS 4 reports.
Officials say 30-year-old Daniel Ramirez, of Colorado Springs, suffered a lower leg injury after hopping from the moving jetliner's rear galley door and running down the runway at Phoneix Sky Harbor International Airport on Saturday (December 4). Ramirez allegedly locked himself in a nearby fire station's dormitory for some minutes.
The Colorado Springs man eventually surrendered and was taken to a hospital, reporters learned. He was then booked into jail on suspicion of two felony counts of trespassing, reporters learned.
Ramirez's family told Phoenix TV station KNXV that he may be schizophrenic.
"I don’t want him to be portrayed as some crazy guy that jumped out of the plane," Thereas Padilla, the mother of Ramirez, told reporters. "He was running and hiding because he thought somebody was after him."
Padilla went on to describe the hours-long video call she had with her son until he boarded the plane, which left Colorado Springs. Ramirez reportedly said, "Someone’s going to get me. Someone’s going to kill me," in a paranoid manner, according to his sister-in-law Emily Luevano.
The incident is still under investigation.