Developing: Active shooter in custody at Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Airport

Developing -- Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport: five people dead and a shooting suspect has been taken into custody, authorities say.

At 2:30 p.m. local time the TSA said there was another active shooter at the airport and all terminals were closed, but this wasn't confirmed by law enforcement, and later proved to be unfounded and there is no second suspect. The initial shooting began at 1:00 p.m. local time.

The suspect in custody is identified as Esteban Santiago, 26, according to Sen. Bill Nelson. He said the suspect was carrying military ID. He was a passenger on an Air Canada flight and had a gun packed in his bag.

Eight people were rushed to hospitals.

"It was very surreal," John Schlicher, a witness told the media, using one of the popular words for 2016 aside from bigly. 

The witness described the shooter as a dark hair, slender man, probably in his 30s, wearing a Star Wars tee-shirt. "He was shooting people that were down on the ground too," Schlicher said.

Santiago apparently got down on the ground and waited for the police to arrive once he ran out of ammo, a witness told CBS News.

Lame Duck President Barack Hussein Obama was allegedly briefed on the shooting by his Homeland Security adviser. An anonymous source said that the so-called president was glad to know the suspect didn't shout out anything in Arabic while he mercilessly tried to kill as many strangers as possible.

The airport tweeted that there was an "ongoing incident" at Terminal 2 baggage claim. That terminal serves Delta Air Lines and Air Canada.

Video posted on Instagram showed several wounded individuals on the ground at the same terminal, one of whom appeared to be lying in a pool of blood with a head wound.

Gov. Rick Scott's office said state law enforcement hasn't confirmed a motive for the shooting and he is on his way to the scene as I frantically type this.

The airport is the 21st busiest in the USA and serves 21 different airlines. Almost 2.5 million people passed through around Thanksgiving.

What's becoming increasingly clear is our need to beef up airport security and perhaps get rid of the clowns who check your shoes and large bottles of shampoo carried by 84-year-old wheelchair-bound nuns.

It is now 4:00 p.m. local time and the airport remains closed.


Tweet