A man who appeared distressed pulled out a gun at Orlando International Airport in Florida, causing an hours-long standoff with police, officials say. No shots were fired and there were no reports of any injuries.
The incident began at around 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday when passengers at the airport reported seeing a large number of police officers rushing towards the airport. Video footage from the airport showed dozens of police cars and officers with their guns drawn.
According to initial reports, a man with a gun was contained by police in the rental car section on level 1 on the airport’s “A” side, where officers were talking to the man. SWAT and a crisis negotiator later arrived at the scene.
The man was taken into custody at about 10 p.m. and police are expected to provide more information later on Tuesday night.
Some witnesses initially said they thought to have heard gunshots, but a spokesperson for the Orlando Police Department confirmed that no shots were fired during the incident. As such, there have been no reports of injuries.
A video shared on social media showed officers trying to talk to the suspect. “We’ll get your parents here .. You’re not going to go to prison, you’re going to the hospital,” an officer could be heard saying. The suspect, who appeared to be distressed, then asked: “I’m not going to go to prison?”
Operations elsewhere at the airport continued without much interruption, though some flights were delayed and road closures caused heavy traffic jams. “Everything seems normal inside of the airport, but we’re down at a terminal,” Nicholas Cherchio said on his Twitter account.
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