Fla. Deputies Stop Possible 'Active Shooting' Outside Busy Airport
What to know
- A "suspicious man" was arrested by Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies after they found a loaded AR-15, magazines and knives in a rental car outside Palm Beach International Airport.
- The suspect, who has a long criminal history, that includes violent assaults, was getting dressed outside a car in an airport restricted area.
- The man was reported by airport workers, leading to a quick response by deputies without incident.
Just outside the Palm Beach International Airport, a man was found with a loaded AR-15, magazines and other weapons Tuesday morning. Deputies say they stopped what could have been a far worse situation.
Around 7:10 a.m., airport workers alerted Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office deputies that a “suspicious” man was standing near a car in a restricted parking lot, authorities said.
Deputies saw Michael Rodrigues, 41, getting dressed outside the car. After talking with him, they learned the car was a rental and found an AR-15 magazine filled with bullets inside the glove compartment.
A further search discovered a fully loaded AR-15 and multiple knives hidden under a blanket, the sheriff’s office said. He was arrested “without incident.”
Deputies say charges are pending.
A criminal past
Rodrigues is a convicted felon and has faced a litany of criminal charges in cases dating as far back as 2006. He was recently arrested in April for strangling the mother of his child unconscious, according to Palm Beach County court records.
She later filed a petition for an injunction against him, which she has done in the past.
In 2021, Rodrigues had slammed another woman’s head, his girlfriend at the time, against a door — causing blood to come from her ears, court records show. She escaped to her neighbor's home in Palm Beach Gardens. He was placed on a year of probation.
He was also found guilty of beating the same woman in 2020 outside Fosters Shak, a bar in West Palm Beach, for which he was sentenced to about a year in jail.
From 2014 to 2024, he has faced charges of burglary, grand theft, battery, dealing in stolen property and drug possession. However, they were all dropped by prosecutors.
In 2011, he was sentenced to 18 months of probation for trying to speed away from Boynton Beach police while reckless driving a year prior.
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