FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a lone shooter opened fire at the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, international airport Friday, killing "multiple" people before he was taken into custody. 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.
The Broward County Sheriff's Office cited multiple deaths on its Twitter account, and Gov. Rick Scott's office also confirmed the shooting, but said authorities hadn't confirmed the number of fatalities, injuries or the motive. Scott was headed to the airport for a briefing by law enforcement.
Miami area television stations reported that at least six people were shot. News stations showed video of medics taking care of a bleeding victim outside the airport. 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.
Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told CNN authorities that a lone shooter was responsible for the attack and had been taken into custody.
"We have an active crime scene investigation involving terminal 2," she said.
Jillian Saunders, from Palm Beach, Florida, told The Associated Press in direct Twitter messages that she was watching the activity from the tarmac in a plane scheduled to fly to Los Angeles.
"Everything you see on the news is happening outside my window," she said. "I am luckily on the plane and they said we are right now the safest people at the airport."
Airport officials said on the airport's website that it was suspending flights. Earlier in the day, the Federal Aviation Administration regulated the pace of flights because of heavy volume after morning fog. According to tracking service FlightAware, about 60 flights to and from Fort Lauderdale were delayed and fewer than a dozen canceled before the shooting.
Update @ 1:47 p.m.: Sheriff's office: 5 dead, 8 wounded in shooting at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, international airport.
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