Alexi C. Cardona

Naples (Fla.) Daily News

NAPLES, Fla. — Tony Bartosiewicz called his children to let them know he was alive shortly after gunshots were fired at the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last week.

What he didn’t tell them was that during the shooting, he used his body to shield a woman he didn’t know.

Annika Dean, the Broward County woman Bartosiewicz shielded, sent his son a message on Facebook to say how grateful she was for what Bartosiewicz did.

Jenny Miller, Bartosiewicz’s daughter, tried to call her dad to ask him whether it was true, but he didn’t return her calls. Bartosiewicz, of Rochester, N.Y., had flown into the Fort Lauderdale airport to take a cruise with his wife, Jennifer Cleeton. The couple wanted to go home but decided to get on the ship Friday evening.

“We didn’t find out until my niece texted him to ask, ‘Papa, did you land on someone and save their life?’”

Miller, who lives in Denver, said. “He wrote back, ‘Yes I did.’ ”

What we know about Fort Lauderdale airport shooting suspect Esteban Santiago

When the gunshots rang out inside the airport, Dean, a mother of two boys, dove to the ground, hid behind a luggage cart and prayed. As the gunman shot at almost a dozen people, Bartosiewicz lay on top of her and told her, “I will protect you.”

“Tony was my guardian angel,” Dean said.

The shooting was over in about 60 seconds, Dean said, and they all felt safer when law enforcement officers arrived.

Bartosiewicz was being patted down by the FBI and couldn’t talk the first time his daughter called him.

When they could finally talk, Miller said her dad sounded shaken.

“He could barely get the words out,” Miller said. “At one point, he thought Jennifer had died. There was someone on the ground next to her with so much blood. Jennifer was on the ground curled up in the fetal position. When Dad went to her, she wouldn’t get up. He thought the blood was hers.”

After being allowed to leave the airport Friday night, Bartosiewicz and Cleeton just wanted to go home, but they decided to go on their Caribbean cruise anyway.

“I don’t think they’re enjoying the trip in the way they should be,” Miller said. “They’re probably going through a lot as far as trying to process the incident. I’m anxious for them to be home safely already.”

Miller, a therapist whose focus is treating people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, is worried about her dad having flashbacks from the shooting.

“I want to talk to him and see how he’s doing,” Miller said. “I want to give him a big hug and probably cry with him. I think he needs to be around people he loves right now and to have a lot of support.”

The shooting made Miller wonder what she would do in the same situation. Would she fight or flee? She said she is afraid she would flee.

Woman hiding in police car during airport shooting bitten by startled K-9

“My dad probably thinks what he did is just what everyone else would do, what they should do,” Miller said. “He’s selfless. He’s also a little impulsive. I think he probably saw her on the ground cowering and just had a feeling of wanting to protect her.”

Bartosiewicz doesn’t want to be the center of attention, his daughter said, and he likely won’t address any media requests, not even for his favorite journalist.

“He’s just very humble,” Miller said. “Anderson Cooper reached out to him. He said, ‘Nope. Not even for Anderson Cooper.’ ”