Story highlights The man asked officers to shoot him, police said

The two-hour standoff sent panicked travelers fleeing

(CNN) Hundreds of officers descended on Orlando International Airport on Tuesday night after reports of a man with a gun near the rental car area. But the weapon turned out to be fake, authorities said.

A two-hour standoff that followed sent panicked travelers fleeing, with some hiding behind concrete barriers in the parking lot.

Police later confronted the man and ended the standoff after nearly two hours. No shots were fired and no one was injured during the incident contained to a rental car area, the Orlando Police Department said.

"When the officers got there, they realized this was a person in mental distress and basically wanted to do the whole suicide by cop thing," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said.

During the incident, a crisis negotiator talked to the man, who was pointing a gun at officers and asking them to shoot him, Mina said.

"This is the gun the suspect was carrying and threatening officers with," the Orlando Police Department said. The weapon later turned out to be fake, police said.

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