Witnesses told MSNBC that the suspect, who was wearing a Star Wars T-shirt, opened fire with a handgun at a baggage claim area and was “shooting people in the head”.
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About 90 minutes after the attack, panic broke out anew with passengers and police running frantically about at a separate terminal, but Mr Israel said there were no other reports of shots being fired.
Federal officials have said the shooter is in custody. HOW HE ARRIVED AT FLL: Law enforcement officials said Santiago boarded a plane Thursday night in Anchorage, changed planes in Minneapolis and flew to Fort Lauderdale Friday.
The shooter allegedly had a military ID on him when he was taken into police custody. All flights were were suspended after the incident. Thankfully all our customers and employees at #FLL are reported accounted for and safe. We are working with local law enforcement. In particular, early estimates of deaths and injuries can change rapidly as more information comes to light ― although needless to say, hopefully these reported figures don’t get any worse. “We don’t know why”, LaMarca said, according to the AP. “It’s just a common sense approach”, Israel told reporters.
Investigators have not released the gunman’s name or detailed the events leading up to the shooting but they are looking into his motive, Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told CNN.
LaMarca said of the suspect: “After he claimed his bag, he went into the bathroom and loaded the gun and started shooting”. Witnesses said the gunman appeared calm as he was shooting.
I’m at the Ft. Officers never fired a shot.
Fleischer’s tweeted from the scene at 12:57 p.m. ET – which was among the first public alerts to the shooting.
Aerial footage from the scene showed throngs of people corralled on the normally off-limits tarmac.
President-elect Donald Trump said he had just spoken with Scott, and was “monitoring the bad situation in Florida”. Just spoke to Governor Scott. “Our community extends its thoughts, prayers and support to the victims and their families”.
President-elect Donald Trump said on social media he spoke with Governor Scott, and he’s “monitoring the awful situation in Florida”.
No. Reports of a second shooter were deemed unfounded.
The FAA is allowing flights within 50 miles of the airport to land, others already in the air will divert to other airports. A fourth nonstop flight scheduled to depart at 6 p.m. Friday was still showing as “on time”.
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Airport officials said all operations were halted and it’s unclear when they would resume.
