Gunman in military gear caused scare at OIA, police say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An armed man in military gear caused a scare at Orlando International Airport, police said.

9 Investigates found out Brian Jackson Jr., 35, was at the curbside check-in Thursday morning for people flying with Southwest Airlines.

Police said the Orlando man was a few feet off the curb near an employee-only door. He was trying to get through that door, but no one knows why, police said.

One of the curbside employees noticed Jackson behind the check-in counters.%

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“He  (the employee) stopped the person (Jackson) to ask if that person had ID and the person (Jackson) said he didn’t need ID and that he was a member of the armed forces,” Michelle Guido with Orlando Police Department, said.

Jackson was dressed in camouflage and brandished a gun, police said. He claimed he was active military and exempt from needing an ID.

It is unclear if Jackson is or was ever in the military.

When the airport worker called police, Jackson ran into the airport.

“They looked in some bathrooms and other things and were asking people, ‘did you see it?” Guido said.

A witness told police Jackson ran to the ground transportation section and got onto a bus.

Jackson was found on a bus on Semoran Boulevard near Curry Ford with a loaded gun and a round in the chamber, police said. He was arrested by Orlando Police.

During court Friday morning, Jackson told a judge he had resources for getting out of situations like this one.

Jackson has been charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, armed trespass in an occupied structure and carrying a concealed firearm without a permit.

Jackson is currently in the Orange County Jail.

Cox Media Group