Regular operations resume at a Phoenix, Arizona airport after a manhunt for the Tempe shooting suspects forced a three-hour lockdown of the establishment on Thursday afternoon.

The airport search began at about 3 p.m. on Thursday after a high-speed chase that ended at the Tempe gas station. The shooting suspects was said to have sought refuge in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the United States.

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"At one point, 12 officers ran straight through the crowd and up the escalator. I'm not sure people were genuinely scared - it was more like an adventure - but it could've been awful," Scottsdale's Carol Sagar, a passenger who was bound for San Diego to visit her son, described the scenario during the chase.

Witnesses described the entire incident as a scene of complete chaos and confusion as police feared for a mass hostage taking involving thousands of people in Terminal 4.

Steve DeVries from Scottsdale have just arrived in the U.S. when he was halted by heavily-armed police officers after he tried to get off of the elevator on the eighth floor, asking him to 'go down' because the area hasn't been 'cleared' yet.

After three hours of manhunt, authorities have finally taken into custody the three people who were allegedly involved in the shooting.

Though their identities were not revealed, police have arrested a man, a woman, and a shirtless third man who escaped in a red Pontiac Trans Am after gunning a gasoline station in Tempe.

According to reports, an unnamed man was severely wounded during the encounter at the gasoline station. He was purportedly hit in the upper chest and was in critical condition prior to treatment.

However, a recent statement from law enforcement officials confirmed that the victim is already in a stable condition.

As of Thursday evening, the captured suspects were taken in for questioning though none of them were charged or booked yet.

TagsPhoenix, Arizona, manhunt, chase, shooting, Tempe, arrest