OKLAHOMA CITY — Federal records show a man who police say shot and killed a former Southwest Airlines co-worker outside an Oklahoma City airport last week was a decorated marksman during a four-year career in the Army.
Military records obtained by The Associated Press on Monday show 45-year-old Lloyd Dean Buie received an expert marksmanship badge during his stint as an infantryman from 1991 to 1995.
Oklahoma City police say Buie fired the deadly shot from the fourth floor of a parking garage at 52-year-old Michael Winchester, who was about 50 yards away. Buie was later found dead in his pickup truck in the garage from what authorities say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Records show Buie obtained the rank of specialist before he discharged from the Army in November 1995.
Police say Buie likely killed Winchester in retaliation for having lost his own job with the airline last year.
Buie fired from the parking garage Nov. 15 as Winchester was leaving work and walking to an employee parking lot, police Capt. Paco Balderrama said at a news conference last week. Buie was later found dead in his pickup truck in the garage.
"We know his intention was to go to the airport to hurt someone," Balderrama said. "The suspect knew where the employees parked and where they would be walking."
Winchester died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office ruled Wednesday. Buie's death was ruled a suicide from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Buie quit his job as a ramp agent for Southwest in April 2015 after he refused to take an alcohol screening, airline spokeswoman Brandy King said. She said co-workers had suspected Buie was under the influence at work, but she declined to say if Winchester, a ramp supervisor who had worked for Southwest for 29 years, was involved.
Police said Winchester wasn't Buie's immediate supervisor, but they believe the circumstances surrounding Buie's quitting were likely his motive for the attack.
The Associated Press tried calling four of Buie's family members, but the calls either rang unanswered or the numbers had been disconnected.
Winchester, who has a listed address in Washington, a community about 35 miles south of the airport, was a former University of Oklahoma football player whose son James is a long snapper for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The shooting set off a scramble at Will Rogers World Airport, with police immediately closing the sprawling complex and asking passengers to seek cover.
Police found Buie's pickup truck in the parking garage about three hours after the shooting. They used a robot to determine he was dead inside it before giving the all-clear.
Balderrama said last week Buie likely would have needed a scope on his rifle to shoot Winchester from that distance.
"It would definitely require familiarity with a rifle," he said. "You don't have to be an expert marksman to hit a 50-yard shot, but it's not an easy shot either."
The attack led to the cancellation of 25 flights. Normal airport operations resumed Wednesday.
