Retaliation Possible Motive in Killing of Okla. Airport Worker, Police Say

(ABC News) – The man suspected of fatally shooting a Southwest Airlines employee Tuesday at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City was a former employee of the U.S. airline who may have “acted in retaliation,” police said today.

Police say the suspected shooter, who was later found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, had waited to ambush 52-year-old Michael Winchester. Investigators believe the victim was shot as he was leaving work and walking to his car on Tuesday afternoon.

Winchester was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the suspected shooter, identified as Lloyd Dean Buie, was an ex-employee of Southwest Airlines who resigned from his post in April 2015. It’s unclear what Buie’s job assignment was at the airline, but police said Winchester was not his immediate supervisor.

The motive remains unknown, but police said the suspect went to Will Rogers World Airport intending to harm someone and he may have been reacting to his resignation last year.

“It is believed this crime was premeditated and that the suspect armed himself and went to the airport with the intention of shooting someone,” Capt. Paco Balderrama, public information officer at the Oklahoma City Police Department, said at a press conference this morning. “We do not know if Mr. Winchester was the intended victim, but it is possible the suspect acted in retaliation against circumstances leading up to his resignation.”

Balderrama said police have not yet checked the suspect’s record for any previous criminal convictions.

Southwest Airlines confirmed that one of its employees had died in a statement Tuesday, saying, “It is with great sorrow that Southwest Airlines confirms that a Southwest Employee who was injured during a shooting incident today at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City has died from injuries. We continue to work with the local authorities investigating this incident.”

The suspect’s body was found inside a red pickup truck in a five-story parking garage at the airport with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Investigators have served a search warrant to Buie’s residence in south Oklahoma City, police said.

Will Rogers World Airport has reopened since the shooting.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.