Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting: Pastor from Beavercreek witnesses attack

UPDATE @ 5:10 p.m.: Rev. John Schlicher of St. Andrew UMC in Beavercreek, in an interview with Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, said the shooter at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport wore a Star Wars T-shirt, did not utter a word and appeared to be alone.

“I heard the first shot and as I did, the person right next to me fell to the ground. It was very surreal,” the pastor said.

He told Fox News the attacker, armed with a handgun, was firing into the crowd. Everyone was waiting for their baggage.

“He just started shooting. I fell to the ground. He reloaded and began shooting again,” Schlicher said.

The pastor, who is vacationing with his wife and her mother, said they all hit the floor and remained there until they saw a police officer approach and tell them it was OK to get up.

“My wife took a sweater from my mother-in-law and applied pressure to the man next to us. He’d been shot in the head. All the people had been shot in the head.”

Schlicher said the man told his wife he was on [the medication] Coumadin. She put pressure on. When the ambulance arrived, he was still alive.

“The man next to him,” the pastor said. “They checked the vital signs and he was gone.”

Credit: Picasa

Credit: Picasa

FIRST REPORT

Pastor John Schlicher, St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Beavercreek, witnessed the deadly shooting Friday afternoon at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

We spoke with his mother, who is in Enon. She said he told her a bullet went right over his head and the person next to him was killed.

The West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, in Worthington, Ohio, posted this to Facebook a few minutes ago:

“Just received this from our Conference office. I’m sure we’re all praying about this terrible act of violence already, but wanted to pass this along:

“West Ohio Conference

“Rev. John Schlicher (pastor at St. Andrew UMC in Beavercreek), his wife Michelle and John’s mother [in law]are currently on traveling on vacation. They were witnesses to a random shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale airport where people were injured and killed. They are unharmed. Please keep this situation in your prayers.”

Rev. Schlicher’s mother said her son, his wife and mother-in-law were headed to the Panama Canal on a cruise.

We’re continuing to develop more details from Rev. Schlicher and we’ll update this report as information becomes available.

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