Five people were killed and at least eight others injured after an Iraq war veteran opened fire inside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida on Friday afternoon.
The shooter pulled a handgun from a checked bag and loaded the weapon in a bathroom before opening fire in the baggage terminal. He was later identified as Esteban Santiago, 26, of New Jersey. He had a military identification card at the time of the shooting.
Santiago served from 2007 to 2016 and was deployed to Iraq from 2010 to 2011, according to the Pentagon.
Broward County Sheriff’s office confirmed there was “one subject in custody.”
Investigators have not ruled out terrorism and they will be “pursuing every angle to try to determine the motive behind this attack,” said George Piro, FBI special agent in charge of the Miami division.
READ MORE: Fort Lauderdale airport shooting: Esteban Santiago identified as shooter
Witness Mark Lea, who was at the airport when the shooting occurred, told Global News that Santiago appeared to be firing at random.
He added that the shooter did not resist arrest.
“He ran out of ammunition, retreated back in the same way that he walked in, dropped the gun on the ground… and then he laid face down, spread-eagle on the ground until the deputy came up behind him.”
Lea said he tried to comfort a woman who was shot in the shoulder, and whose husband was shot in the face and killed.
WATCH: Ongoing coverage of Fort Lauderdale airport shooting
A Broward County official said earlier Friday that the shooter had arrived in Fort Lauderdale aboard a Canadian flight, but a spokesperson for the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. said this was not the case.
“We understand from officials he was on a flight originating in Anchorage transiting through Minneapolis and landing Fort Lauderdale,” Christine Constantin said in a statement.
Santiago flew out of Anchorage on a 9:52 p.m. Delta flight, and his firearm was his only piece of checked luggage, according to Jesse Davis, chief of police at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
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Davis said Santiago didn’t call attention to himself and “as far as we can tell” travelled alone, but he said the investigation is ongoing.
Authorities are trying to track Santiago’s movements through Alaska’s largest commercial airport using video footage.
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Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was in the airport at the time and tweeted “shots have been fired” and “everyone is running” shortly after 1 p.m. ET Friday.
The airport was shut down as a result of the shooting and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said flights are being diverted from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“As of 2:15 p.m., airborne flights that are within about 50 miles from FLL will be landing at the airport. Other airborne flights that are headed to FLL will be delayed or diverted to other airports,” the FAA said in a statement.
An Air Canada spokesperson confirmed its passengers and employees were safe and accounted for.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic event that occurred at Fort Lauderdale Airport Terminal 2 today,” the airline said in a statement. “Passengers on our departing flights were safely evacuated on the tarmac and arriving flights 1602 from YUL and 1622 from YYZ are being held off gate for the time being.”
Air Canada also confirmed that the airliner has no record of the suspect being a passenger on any of the company’s flights. Air Canada also said no checked guns were onboard any flights to Fort Lauderdale.
A spokesperson for Air Transat said the airliner operations were not affected by the shooting.
“We are really sorry about what happened at the Fort Lauderdale airport. We are operating from Terminal 4, not Terminal 2, and our operations are not affected at this time,” Debbie Cabana said.
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WestJet said the airliner was monitoring the situation closely.
“We are following the lead of law enforcement officials at the scene and will update as information becomes available,” the company said.
— With files from Reuters and the Associated Press
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Niki Anastasakis, Tania Kohut, Andrew Russell and Rahul Kalvapalle contributed to this report.
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