Fox News anchor Shepard Smith not only reported the breaking news of the Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting on Friday, he also did a terrific job at being a therapist at a moment's notice. A man at the airport was coming back from vacation when he saw the airport shooting with his own eyes. Terrified, he and his wife ran into a safer location, and he called Fox News. Just as he started to talk to Shepard on the phone, police yelled for everyone to get down on the floor as shots were fired.
Shepard Smith calms victims
This already terrified man and his wife were even more frightened as they were told by law enforcement to lay down on the floor and stay perfectly still.
The man, who identified himself as John Schlicher, told Shepard Smith that after getting away from from the shooter, his wife helped a man who had been shot. The unidentified wounded man said he was on the blood thinner coumadin, as he was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to his head.
Person handcuffed at FLL amid possible second incident at airport pic.twitter.com/ck3bT1ZBlQ
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) January 6, 2017
Shooter shot people in head
Schlicher told Smith that as his wife attended to the injured man, he saw another victim who was dead. The shooter's behavior was described by Schlicher as just walking through the airport shooting people in the head. He never said a word. People screamed as they ran away from the shooter.
Then, they were told there was a second wave of shooting and Schlicher and his wife were ordered to get down on the floor along with all the other people near the baggage area.
Told to lay on the floor
You could hear the fear in John Schilcher's voice and Shepard Smith didn't ignore this just to get his story. He stopped and tried to talk John into staying calm.
At this point the man and his wife had just been told by police to get down as more shots were fired. They thought they were in the clear up until then. Smith talked in a calming voice, trying to ease some of the emotional pain of the man on the phone.
Smith offers therapy-like talk
He told Schilcher that panic often sets in after an incident like this and the second wave of reported shots that they were in fear of, might just be a noise someone mistook for shots being fired.
Smith told Schilcher several times to keep calm and do what police ask. As it turned out, Smith was right. There was no second wave of shooting, just someone thinking they heard shots fired.
Shooter ID'd
The shooter, who was identified after this phone call with Schilcher, was carrying a military ID. He was taken into custody by police. Witnesses said he ran out of bullets and sat down on the floor, waiting for police to take him into custody. The 26-year-old man had put a gun in his suitcase and when he got off a plane in Florida, he got his suitcase from baggage claim and went into the bathroom. While in the restroom, he loaded that gun and came out of the bathroom shooting.
During the shooting, the suspect ran out of bullets.
He stood in the airport baggage area and loaded his gun, then continued shooting at more people. He left five dead and eight wounded in his wake. The condition of the victims taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds is not known. During this event the TSA sent out a tweet, which you can see below:
Update: Active shooter at #FLL. Shelter in place. Airport closed.
— TSA (@TSA) January 6, 2017
The suspect has been identified as Esteban Santiago, which is what Florida Senator Bill Nelson said during an impromptu press conference as reporters gathered around him. The shooter was taken into custody "without incident," reports Fox News. Santiago is said to live in Anchorage, Alaska. It is not known what branch of the military he was in.
'Star Wars' T-shirt on shooter
Schlicher reported to Shepard that the shooter was wearing a "Star Wars" T-shirt. Schilcher told Shepard Smith that the shooter was not only shooting at people walking in the airport, but he was also shooting at the people who got down on the ground. Donald Trump tweeted that he was monitoring the situation as it unfolded, he also said he had talked with the governor of Florida, which is seen in the tweet below:
Monitoring the terrible situation in Florida. Just spoke to Governor Scott. Thoughts and prayers for all. Stay safe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017