An American Eagle plane is seen on the tarmac at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, on Oct. 23, 2019. (Daniel Slim – AFP / Getty Images)
By Jack Davis November 21, 2025 at 1:02pm
An early Friday encounter at St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s Terminal 1 ended with police fatally shooting a man armed with a knife.
The incident took place at about 1:00 a.m., according to KSDK-TV.
“STL Airport Police officers were conducting routine security checks in Terminal 1,” St. Louis County Police said, according to Fox News.
Police “encountered an adult male with a knife,” the police statement added.
“The suspect refused to drop the weapon and was tased by one police officer,” the statement continued.
“The suspect continued to advance towards officers, and a second police officer fired his service weapon, striking the male suspect,” it said.
The shooting victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
No one else was injured in the incident, according to KSDK.
One of the airport police officers involved has been with the force there for six months, and the other had been involved for a year, police said. Both had previous law enforcement experience before joining the airport police.
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St. Louis Lambert International Airport CEO and Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge released a statement about the events.
“Today’s incident in Terminal One was a tragic event for our Airport Community. However, I take great pride in our response. As police responded and county authorities conducted their investigation, we were able to continue normal operations at STL,” the statement said.
“The airport is cooperating with the St. Louis County Police Department as they continue their investigation,” she added.
Neither the name of the victim nor the names of the police officers were immediately released.
Police spokeswoman Vera Clay noted that “I don’t believe it was a restricted area. But remember the airport is for people who are traveling, using it for travel,” according to KTVI-TV.
“And so the question for, a better question for the St. Louis Airport Police is, and that’s part of the investigation, why this person should not have been in the area they were in. And you have to remember also they also had a weapon and came at police. They were asked to leave and didn’t do that,” Clay said.
Police said the man was not a passenger on any airline, according to STLPR.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues
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