Four injured in shooting, stabbing incident at US Phoenix airport on Christmas night

New York, Dec 27: Three people were shot and one was stabbed on Christmas night in a shooting and stabbing incident at an international airport in Phoenix, the capital of the southwestern US state of Arizona, according to authorities and local news outlets.

Police officers got a call about a possible shooting at a restaurant outside a security checkpoint in Terminal 4 at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the largest airport in the state, around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday local time, a Phoenix police spokesperson said Thursday morning at a news conference.

Police officers at the scene located three people with gunshot injuries and a fourth person with stab wound at an airport parking area, Xinhua news agency reported.

The spokesperson said a woman was hospitalised with life-threatening injuries and three men were in stable condition.

Investigators learned the shooting took place when a group of people got into a physical altercation that led to one person pulling out a handgun and shooting multiple people, reported local KNXV television station.

Everyone involved was known to each other, said the report, citing police.

At least two people were reportedly detained in connection to the incident.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a post on X Thursday morning that the domestic violence incident at the airport "has no place in our city, especially during the holidays."

In a separate shooting incident in US, A man shot three children whom he accused of trying to rob him at gunpoint on Christmas night, authorities said on Thursday.

The boys, aged between 12 and 14, were shot after trying to rob the man at gunpoint at an apartment complex in northwestern Houston after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday local time, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on X.

Defending himself, the man pulled out a pistol and opened fire at the boys, said Gonzalez.

The boys were taken to a hospital for treatment afterward while the man stayed at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, he added.

One of the boys, believed to be 12 years old, is in critical condition, local media reported.

A resident at the apartments said 10 gunshots were heard, local media outlet KTRK reported.