Southwest employee shot dead at Oklahoma City airport, flights halted
A Southwest Airlines employee was fatally shot at Oklahoma City's main airport on Tuesday, prompting authorities to halt flights and impose a shelter in place order to allow police to search for a suspect.
No information was available about the motive for the shooting in a parking lot at Will Rogers World Airport, Oklahoma City Police Captain Paco Balderrama told reporters.
The man killed was identified by police as Michael Winchester, 52, who was transported from the scene and died in hospital.
Police said that there was no active shooter but police planned to evacuate the airport as part of their investigation.
"We have potential leads to a possible suspect. We have not positively identified the suspect," Balderrama told reporters.
ESPN reported that Winchester was the father of NFL player James Winchester, who is a long snapper for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Ken Sarnoff, the agent for James Winchester, on Twitter said that the player lost his father.
Police armed with rifles swept through the parking lot in their search and Balderrama said he expected the airport to be fully operational by Wednesday.
The airport said that all arrivals and departures had been suspended until further notice. Southwest said it canceled all inbound and outbound flights for the remainder of the day.
The airport is the main commercial air hub for Oklahoma City and services an average of 150 flights a day, the airport said.
"We extend our heartfelt sympathies and support to his family and Southwest co-workers at this time," Southwest said in a statement.
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