Metro Detroiters Detail Moments After Fort Lauderdale Airport Mass Shooting

DETROIT (WWJ) - A South Lyon man has been sheltered in place for hours at Fort Lauderdale with no access to either his luggage, food, water, or a bathroom.

Chris Mattina was in Terminal Two at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Friday afternoon, getting ready to board his flight to Detroit, when he heard shots fired.

He says his first thought was to run for cover.

"... and heard gun shots, below where I was in the baggage claim area, at that point there was a lot of yelling and screaming," said Mattina. "Quite a few of us huddled under these concrete barriers and FBI and ATF, Homeland Security came about 25 minutes later and started to really secure the scene and put people in a safer location.

"We're all just standing here - so it's kind of brothers' in arms with a dozen or two people that have been in the same spot with you," he said. "There's been no information in terms of evacuating people from the area. There has been no usage of any of the restrooms."

Devorah Glanz of W. Bloomfield was at the airport with plans to fly back to Detroit.

"I'm safe back at my parents condo after a very long horrible day. Thank you to everyone who texted and wrote on FB, I'm a little shaken but glad I made it out of that ordeal. Some people weren't as lucky as me. Hold your loved ones close, today was beyond scary,"  Glanz posted on Facebook.

Esteban-Santiago-Ruiz, a military veteran, is believed to have opened fire after retrieving a gun from checked baggage.

An authority says the suspect in a deadly shooting at a Florida airport flew out of Anchorage, Alaska.

Jesse Davis is chief of police at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. He told The Associated Press that 26-year-old Santiago-Ruiz flew out of Anchorage, Alaska, on a 9:52 p.m. Delta flight Thursday, and that a firearm was his only piece of checked luggage. He says Santiago flew from Anchorage to Minneapolis-St. Paul and on to Fort Lauderdale.

Davis said Santiago didn't call attention to himself and "as far as we can tell" traveled 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.

Davis noted that it's not usual for travelers at the Alaska airport to check firearms because many people hunt.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 [LISTEN LIVE] and CBSDetroit.com for the latest in this developing news situation.

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