Silke Jasso
A shooter targeted Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in south Florida on Friday afternoon. So far, Broward County Sherriff’s office has reported five people dead and eight people injured.
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Update: 5 ppl dead; 8 injured were taken to an area hospital.
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) January 6, 2017
RELATED:Â A shooting in the Fort Lauderdale airport has multiple dead, and several others injured
Fox News’s Shepard Smith, who was covering the incident live, took a call from John Schlicher, a witness at the airport at the time of the shooting.
Schlicher provided some details he remembered of the shooter as well as his recollection of the events around him.
Witness: "[Shooter] was probably close to 5'10, 6 feet. A slender man, dark hair… He was probably in his 30s." #FortLauderdale pic.twitter.com/XrU9voq2rp
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2017
Witness: "All the people seemed to be shot in the head." #FortLauderdale pic.twitter.com/V9EZrmSfw7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2017
“When I saw blood just pooling underneath people, I realized that it was real and that people were being shot,” Schlicher recalled.
While on the phone, officers began to rush the garage with their guns drawn. There was speculation that a second individual was involved.
Schlicher told Shepard that “they’re telling everyone to get on the floor,” as officers went to the garage.
Witness: "We're down. We're down on the ground. They said there's something going on outside in the garage." #FortLauderdale pic.twitter.com/079p7Tldkk
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2017
Witness: "They're telling everybody to lay down." #FortLauderdale pic.twitter.com/fWPQgERhL0
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2017
“Michelle, get down,” Schlicher yelled to a woman with whom he was familiar, presumably his wife.
Schlicher said “Oh God,” and his voice began to crack as he reported people hiding between the luggage carousels.
Smith tried to calm him down, saying that in his experience with such events, there are often scares like the one being experienced in the moment. The Fox News anchor asked Schlicher how his wife was doing. He promised to keep the line open for the terrified man.
“People are crying out, people are scared to death,” Schlicher said. Smith told him that “calm is the savior of the day,” trying to keep him composed.
Shots rang out from the parking garage.
Witness: "There are more shots that have been fired in the parking garage." #FortLauderdale pic.twitter.com/pnii0bWtqH
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2017
Smith told him to stay down and Schlicher reported that he and his wife were down and “cuddled together.”
After a couple of updates, Smith told Schlicher that he would be speaking to a correspondent briefly. Smith encourage Schlicher to speak on the phone if anything changed.
