Florida Airport Shooting: At Least 5 Dead

Local Editor

A gunman wearing a "Star Wars" T-shirt opened fire at a baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday, killing at least five people before being taken into custody, officials and witnesses said.

Five people died and eight were wounded in the incident, the local sheriff's office said.

Police shot the shooter as he attempted to reload, MSNBC reported, citing witnesses. It said the man, who said nothing, appeared to be in his 20s and was wearing a "Star Wars" T-shirt.

He carried a US military identification, US Senator Bill Nelson of Florida told MSNBC.

The suspected attacker, 26-year-old US military veteran Esteban Santiago was taken into FBI custody.

The Florida attack was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years, some inspired by militants with an extreme view of Islam, others carried out by loners or the mentally disturbed who have easy access to weapons under US gun laws.

About 90 minutes after the attack, panic broke out anew with passengers and police running frantically about the airport.

Dozens of police sprinted back and forth with automatic weapons drawn, directing a large group of travelers.

John Schlicher, who told MSNBC he saw the attack, described the shooter as a "slender man" who was "directly firing at us" while passengers waited for their bags to come off the carousel.

Mark Lea, another eyewitness, told MSNBC "there was no rhyme or reason to it."

"He didn't say anything, he was quiet the whole time, he didn't yell anything," Lea said.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the second largest in South Florida, serving as an intercontinental gateway, with Miami International Airport known as the primary airport for international flights in the area.

Friday's attack comes nearly two months after a former Southwest Airlines worker killed an employee of the company at Oklahoma City's airport in what police called a premeditated act.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern US history took place in June, when a gunman apparently inspired by Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist "ISIS"/"ISIL" group] killed 53 people and wounded 49 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

One of the most shocking took place in 2012, when a man entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and shot dead 20 first-graders and six adults.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team