Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Friday that he and President-elect Donald Trump offered thoughts and prayers to the victims of the shooting rampage at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
"We send our prayers and our thoughts to the victims of this attack, to their families, to the courageous first-responders and to all the citizens of the Fort Lauderdale area," Pence said in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. "It's a very challenging time.
"It's a heartbreaking, heartbreaking loss of life."
The gunman, identified by news reports as Esteban Santiago, 26, was arrested without incident by Broward County sheriff's deputies.
He is a former member of the U.S. Army National Guard, according to news reports, and Santiago allegedly checked a handgun in his luggage when he left from Alaska.
After arriving in Florida, Santiago reportedly loaded the gun in a bathroom before coming out and opening fire shortly before 1 p.m.
He lived in Anchorage from 2014 to 2016, according to reports.
Pence said that he had just finished talking with Florida Gov. Rick Scott about the attack.
"He has briefed the president-elect and myself several times this afternoon," the vice president-elect said. "We're grateful for his leadership."