Police Disarm Gunman at Jamaica Airport

April 20, 2009 — -- A gunman who held five crew members of CanJet Flight 918 hostage overnight at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica, surrendered this morning and everyone onboard the plane was released safely.

Authorities reportedly boarded the plane and disarmed the gunman, and he is currently in police custody.

The man initially took all 182 people onboard the flight hostage before eventually releasing the passengers, leaving the five crew members on the Boeing 737.

Flight 918 from Halifax, Nova Scotia, had made a scheduled stop in Montego Bay when the man boarded the plane late Sunday. He demanded money from the passengers and then requested to be flown to Cuba. The plane had been scheduled to stop in Cuba after leaving Jamaica.

A Canadian airline official reported that a shot may have been fired outside the jet, but CanJet Airlines Vice President Ken Woodside said that information had not been confirmed and nobody had been injured, according to The Associated Press.

Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz told ABC News that the gunman appeared to be a "mentally challenged youngster" around 20 years old. Police have not released the man's identity, but his father reportedly helped authorities with negotiations.

Radio Jamaica reporter Latoya Johnson, stationed at the airport, told ABC News today that she saw the passengers after they were released from the plane and they seemed unharmed.

"We saw them ourselves," she said. "They were waving as they passed into their buses as they were being transported to hotels, and they all seemed to be fine."

Among the passengers on the plane was a wedding party.