Airport suspect was shooting toward the terminal, Miami-Dade deputies say

David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Sep 24, 2026

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MIAMI — The man arrested at Miami-International Airport after chaotic reports of an active shooter Wednesday afternoon was firing rounds toward the crowded terminal before he was detained by deputies, according to a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

Deputies found three bullet holes in a trash can and one through the windshield of an unoccupied Dodge Challenger, according to the report.

Francisco Ivan Mendiola, 31, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on charges of unlawful discharge of a firearm, criminal mischief and shooting a deadly missile.

The sheriff’s office received reports of shots fired around 4 p.m. Wednesday., and witnesses described tense moments of hearing gunshots and being forced to seek cover behind parked cars outside the terminal. Witnesses “were frantically directing deputies” to Mendiola, who was sitting on the second floor of the short-term parking garage, according to the report.

One deputy saw Mendiola sitting on a bench holding a semiautomatic handgun in his right hand and loading a magazine into the firearm before firing a shot, the report states.

Deputies quickly got to him, detained him and secured the gun, which by that time was in his backpack, according to the report. The deputy who secured the weapon said the magazine was not inserted into the gun, but when she racked the slide, a round was ejected, the report states.

Security-camera footage showed Mendiola walking from the Flamingo parking garage toward the short-term parking garage, where seven benches are located, the report states. The footage showed him carrying a backpack that matched the one in which deputies found the handgun, according to the report.

Deputies found four spent shell casings on the ground near where Mendiola was sitting, the sheriff’s office said. They found two 16-round capacity magazines in the backpack, each loaded with 12 rounds, the report states.

Despite the harrowing situation, the sheriff’s office said it was not an active-shooter scenario.

Mendiola is homeless and was heavily intoxicated when deputies took him into custody, according to the arrest report. According to court records, he was convicted of petit theft in the summer after he stole seven Buzz Ball alcoholic drinks from a Fresco y Mas supermarket on Northwest Seventh Street in June.

—Miami Herald Staff Writers Devoun Cetoute and Sofia Saric contributed to this report.