Obama on the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting: 'These tragedies have happened too often'

Screenshot via CNN

President Barack Obama issued a statement on the mass shooting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida January 6, 2017.

President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the families of people killed in a mass shooting at Florida's Fort Lauderdale International Airport on Friday.

"We're heartbroken for families who have been affected," Obama said in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

The president commented on the frequency of mass shootings in the US saying, "These tragedies have happened too often during the eight years that I've been president.

In an interview published by the BBC in 2015, Obama called the rise in mass shootings during his presidency his biggest frustration.

The suspected shooter, who was identified as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, allegedly opened fire inside the baggage claim area of terminal 2 at the airport, killing at least five people and wounding several others before police took him into custody.

Santiago carried out the shooting with a handgun that was in his checked luggage, according to a statement from Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca.

Watch Obama's statement below: