Oklahoma shooting: Police say airport shooter was ex-employee

Oklahoma City police officers gather information from vehicles leaving Will Rogers World Airport, Tuesday Nov. 15 2016, in Oklahoma City. The airport was put on lockdown after a shooting in the main terminal. (Steve Gooch/The Oklahoman via AP)

Police say the man accused of fatally shooting an Oklahoma City airport employee used to work for Southwest Airlines and that the attack was likely in retaliation for circumstances that led to the attacker’s 2015 resignation. Capt. Paco Balderrama identified the shooter as Lloyd Dean Buie, of Oklahoma City. He says Buie resigned from Southwest Airlines in April 2015 and that investigators believe he shot and killed 52-year-old Michael Winchester on Tuesday in retaliation for circumstances that led to Buie leaving the job.

Balderrama says he doesn’t know what Buie did for Southwest or why he resigned. He says Winchester was not Buie’s immediate supervisor.

Buie was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after Tuesday afternoon’s shooting. Oklahoma City police investigators are trying to figure out why a man waited to gun down an airline employee outside Will Rogers World Airport in an ambush that prompted authorities to shut down the state’s busiest airport for hours.