Authorities gave no details on a possible motive for the shooting, which sent panicked passengers running out of the terminal and onto the tarmac, baggage in hand, and forced the shutdown of the entire airport.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
"People started kind of screaming and trying to get out of any door they could or hide under the chairs," a witness, Mark Lea, told MSNBC. "He just kind of continued coming in, just randomly shooting at people, no rhyme or reason to it."
Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said that the gunman was carrying a military ID that identified him as Esteban Santiago, but that it was unclear whether the ID was his. Nelson gave no further information on the suspect.
President Barack Obama was briefed by his Homeland Security adviser, the White House said.
It is legal for airline passengers to travel with guns and ammunition as long as the firearms are put in a checked bag — not a carry-on — and are unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container. Guns must be declared to the airline at check-in.
Chip LaMarca, a Broward County commissioner who was briefed on the attack by the sheriff's office, told The Associated Press that the shooter had arrived aboard a Canadian flight with a gun in a checked bag.
"After he claimed his bag, he went into the bathroom and loaded the gun and started shooting. We don't know why," LaMarca said.
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