A Canadian who hid in a restaurant鈥檚 kitchen. A father who led his children past pools of blood. A man who saw a shooter aiming randomly into the crowd. Those are some of the eyewitness accounts coming out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where a mass shooting has killed at least five people.
Passenger John Schlicher said he was in the baggage claim area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday, when he saw a person fall to the ground.
Schlicher said he turned and watched a man standing in between two baggage carousels firing a black handgun 鈥渞andomly into the crowd.鈥�
鈥淗e was shooting people in the head,鈥� Schlicher added. 鈥淭here were elderly people that were shot and killed. There were two people to my left and two people to my right who were shot. Several of them died.鈥�
Police later took one suspect into custody. A Broward County official said the suspect came off a Canadian flight, but the Canadian Embassy later said the suspect "did not fly from Canada and was not on a Canadian flight."
鈥業 saw him go pale鈥�
Mike Starobinsky said he was on the main level of the terminal with his wife, father-in-law and children when he stopped getting service on his cell phone.
Starobinsky, who was waiting to board a flight to Detroit, told Toronto news station CP24 that he removed his headphones and heard popping sounds.
鈥淣ext thing I know, somebody鈥檚 screaming 鈥榮hots fired, shots fired鈥�,鈥� he added.
Starobinsky grabbed his children and headed outside, he said. On his way out, he saw a man on the ground bleeding profusely, and a woman beside him who seemed to be trying to stop the bleeding, he added.
Starobinksky said he watched the man鈥檚 鈥渇ace turn pale,鈥� and isn鈥檛 sure if he survived.
鈥淩ight now everybody is just in disbelief and standing right next to their families,鈥� he added, 鈥渂ut it seems to be back to normal.鈥�
鈥榃e鈥檙e the lucky ones鈥�
Stephanie Auclair of Quebec told 麻豆影视 Channel over the phone from the tarmac at that she saw a wave of people run by screaming 鈥渟hooter, shooter.鈥�
鈥淓veryone ducked down and took tables to have a shield,鈥� she said. 鈥淎fter that we hid in the kitchen of the restaurant.鈥�
Auclair said an airport employee eventually ushered people hiding in the kitchen out onto the tarmac.
She said she saw a man handcuffed and that airport officials said the shooter was in custody.
Five people died in the mass shooting and more have been injured, according to the Broward County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.
鈥淭errified wouldn鈥檛 even begin to say how I felt,鈥� Auclair said. 鈥淲e see this on the news 鈥� way too often.鈥�
Auclair added that she was lucky she was able to keep her parents close by during the chaos and that they are all safe, if a bit shaken up.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the lucky ones,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome families are going to get the message that their loved ones are dead.鈥�
