Police in Florida have detained a suspect following a shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport that killed five people and injured eight.
Authorities gave no details on a possible motive for the shooting near the baggage area inside Terminal 2, which serves Delta Air Lines and Air Canada.
Christine Constantin, spokeswoman at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, said in a statement, “There is no Canadian connection.”
“We confirm that the shooter did not come from a Canadian flight, or from Canada,” she said. Constantin referred to reports from U.S. officials that the shooter had been on a flight from Alaska, transiting in Minneapolis before landing in Fort Lauderdale.
#FortLauderdale suspect did not fly from Canada and was not on a Canadian flight. There is no Canadian connection
— @CanadaFP
Earlier, Chip LaMarca, a Broward County commissioner who was briefed on the airport shooting by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, had told The Associated Press that the shooter had arrived in Fort Lauderdale aboard a Canadian flight.
Delta Air Lines said in a statement, “Preliminary reports indicate that all Delta employees are safe and accounted for.”
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said he extends his thoughts and prayers to “those involved in the tragic events today.”
On Twitter, Air Canada said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic event” and that all of its customers and staff at the airport were accounted for and safe.
We are deeply saddened by the tragic event that occurred at Fort Lauderdale Airport Terminal 2 today. #FLL 1/5
— @AirCanada
Thankfully all our customers and employees at #FLL are reported accounted for and safe. 2/5
— @AirCanada
The airport suspended operations as law enforcement authorities rushed to the scene, and emergency medical workers treated at least one bleeding victim on the tarmac.
Officials also said the suspect was unharmed when taken into custody and law enforcement fired no shots.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson said the gunman was found carrying a military ID with the name Esteban Santiago, but that it was unclear whether the ID was his. Nelson gave no further information on the suspect.
“This could well be someone who is mentally deranged, or in fact it could be someone who had a much more sinister motive that we have to worry about every day, and that is terrorism,” said Nelson. “We can’t conclude that.”
Canadians in #FtLauderdale, #US – for emergency consular assistance contact (305) 579-1600 or 1-888-949-9993 2/3
— @TravelGoC
Global Affairs Canada said it was monitoring the situation and urged Canadians in the area to contact the Consulate General of Canada in Miami in the event of an emergency.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion on Twitter offered his condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
The shooting took place in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. (CBC)
Russel Crooks, a Canadian at the airport, had just returned from a cruise with his partner when the gunman opened fire in Terminal 2.
“We jumped up and I realized that it was either a bomb or a gunshot and we ran about five feet away to a desk, a kiosk information booth, and sort of pulled under there,” he told CBC.
“He was standing there shooting somebody and I looked away because, quite honestly, I thought that he was going to turn left towards us and he would have seen the people behind this tiny, tiny desk and we were just right there.”
People take cover outside of Terminal 2 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport. Officials are reporting that five people were killed and 8 wounded in an attack by a single gunman. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Another witness, John Kaneklides, was in Terminal 2 when the shots broke out and also hid under a kiosk before rushing onto the tarmac when doors opened.
“Passengers started rushing out the door and so we were just kind of climbing on all fours as fast as we could to exit the departure area and get on the tarmac,” he told CBC News.
Kaneklides said he was taken by authorities to Terminal 4, where he said there is “an air of panic in the room.”
People are taken out of the terminal and onto the tarmac after the shooting. (Zachary Fagenson/Reuters)
He also said the airport kept passengers “in the dark” about what was going on.
“In fact, we would have no idea what happened in Terminal 2 if it were not for Twitter and the news,” Kaneklides said.
News helicopters hovering over the scene showed hundreds of people standing on the tarmac as an ambulance drove by and numerous law enforcement officers, including tactical units, rushed to the scene.
An injured woman is taken into Broward Health Trauma Center in Fort Lauderdale. (Taimy Alvarez/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/Associated Press)
Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary for U.S. president George W. Bush, said on Twitter that shots were fired and “everyone is running.”
“All seems calm now but the police aren’t letting anyone out of the airport — at least not the area where I am,” Fleischer said from the airport at about 12:57 p.m. ET.
A woman tended to a bleeding, seated man outside an airport building, according to a photo posted on Twitter by a Michigan information technology company.
Florida airport witness video1:30
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