Flights from Las Vegas arrive in Fort Lauderdale after mass shooting

Passengers say they saw hundreds of police cars heading toward Mandalay Bay

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Several flights from Las Vegas landed Monday morning at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after being delayed following a mass shooting at a country music concert.

Local 10 News reporter Madeleine Wright spoke to a group of JetBlue passengers who said they were grateful to be home, but terribly saddened by the situation in Las Vegas.

Spirit Airlines passengers also said they were grateful to be back in Florida.

"It affected us because you can see from the plane the police cars," Adriana Arango said. "You could see hundreds and hundreds, and they were going through the runway. You could see the ambulances. So we didn't really know what was going on."

Confused passengers said they wound up sitting on the plane for two hours while they waited to take off because of how close the airport is to the Mandalay Bay, where the shooting happened.

"It's literally right across the street. That's why we waited," one passenger said. "Apparently they said people were fleeing from there, potentially running onto the tarmac or whatever, so they didn't want to have the planes going."

Passengers said relatives and friends called nonstop, worried they were involved in the shooting.

"All the texts, calls, messages, condolences -- thank God we made it," Shanise Bush said. 

Arango, of Sunrise, said she was at the Las Vegas Strip Sunday, hours before the shooting.

"You walked around, you know, a little bit. It's very scary -- very sad," she said. 

Las Vegas police said more than 400 people were hospitalized in the mass shooting and 58 people were killed, including an off-duty Las Vegas police officer.

The accused gunman, Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, was found dead in a hotel room with as many as 10 guns, authorities said.

Police said he had checked into the Mandalay Bay on Sept. 28. 


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.