Sister: Iowa man killed at Florida airport; wife wounded
An Iowa man who was a frequent traveler and loved to cruise with his wife was among the five people killed in the airport shooting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, his sister told The Associated Press on Saturday.
"They were supposed to leave today," Elizabeth Oehme-Miller, 52, said by phone from Council Bluffs, also the couple's hometown. "They were happy to be going on another trip."
Michael Oehme, 57, was a land surveyor and owned his own business, Boundaryline Surveys, his sister said.
His wife, Kari Oehme, is hospitalized with injuries from a gunshot wound to the shoulder and is expected to recover, with a family member flying to Fort Lauderdale to help her return home, her sister-in-law said. Kari Oehme is a clerical worker at a local office, Oehme-Miller said.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
She said she learned that the couple was at the airport during the shooting through a text message from her daughter.
"I still can't believe it's true," Oehme-Miller said. "It hasn't hit yet. I'm kind of in shock right now."
The couple was supposed to be cruising to the Caribbean a day after their arrival at the Fort Lauderdale airport, a hub for vacationers headed to ships at Port Everglades.
No official list of the victims has been released, but loved ones have started to talk about them to news outlets.
The Catholic Church of the Transfiguration in Marietta, Ga. confirmed the death of Olga Woltering in a statement on its website Saturday.