ORLANDO, Fla. _ An armed man who went to the rental car area inside an Orlando International Airport terminal has been taken into custody, authorities said.
More than 2 { hours after the initial report at 7:24 p.m., Orlando police said the man was in custody after speaking to a crisis negotiator, according to the Orlando Police Department. No shots were fired.
"You're not going to prison, Michael, you're going to the hospital," an officer told the man in a video posted to Twitter from a witness huddled behind a service counter in the airport.
"Please don't lie to me, sir," the person yelled back.
Authorities swarmed the airport after receiving the report. The suspect's friend called authorities and told them the suspect was at the airport and said he wanted to die, a law enforcement source told the Orlando Sentinel.
The man had the weapon on the first floor of the airport in the rental car area, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said.
"There is no active shooter. No shots fired," the Orlando Police Department said on social media.
Glorializ Colon Plaza, 20, said she was just getting off work from Virgin Atlantic airline when she saw everyone hiding. She got off the elevator and saw the man on the floor near the rental car area. He was screaming, and cops had surrounded him.
"I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud," she said. "Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone: 'You're going to need mental therapy after this,' then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran."
Plaza said she didn't hear any gunshots or see anyone who was injured.
"I saw all the cops with the long rifles and started shaking," she said. "It didn't seem real."
The incident caused some disorder for passengers attempting to come through the airport.
Lawrence Wilbanks, 54, landed from Chicago at about 7:20 p.m. He spotted his two bags at baggage claim and started walking over when officials ushered him and everyone else away.
He did not know what was happening. His family members, who live in the area, were supposed to pick him up when he landed and, two and a half hours later, he did not know if they showed up and had no way of contacting them because he did not have his cellphone and hadn't memorized their numbers.
It was inconvenient, he said, but he was taking it in stride.
"I'd rather be a little inconvenienced than have something really bad happen," he said.
Police were controlling the situation well, he said.
"I commend them, they handled it pretty good," he said. "It could have been worse, it could have been widespread panic."
Mike Walsh and his girlfriend Celeste Peloquin said they arrived about 8:30 p.m. on a Southwest flight from Delaware into Terminal A.
They saw officers with police dogs directing people. They eventually found their way to baggage claim and hopped on a shuttle to one of the long term off site lots.
"It was scary," said Peloquin of The Villages. "The airport was lit up like Christmas."
Fennell said law enforcement cleared the first floor. Terminal A was shut down, and traffic entering the airport was at a standstill.
All roads leading to the airport were shut down during and after the incident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. FHP troopers were telling those in the area to "stay in your vehicle and away from law enforcement personnel."
By about 9:15 p.m., officials appeared to be letting some traffic into the area.
James Roland, a supervisor at Wally Park, an off-site airport lot, said he had customers who are stuck at the airport after arriving.
"We didn't know what was going on _ we just knew it was big," he said.
By 10 p.m., other than a few airport employees blocking the escalators to baggage claim and a few television news crews on scene, little looked out of the ordinary on the main terminal floor. The line for TSA was estimated at 3 to 7 minutes.
Orange County deputies and the Maitland and Winter Park police departments also responded to the scene.
