Leaders of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes joined state officials in mourning state Rep. Ezequiel Santiago, a Bridgeport Democrat, who died of a heart attack Friday morning. He was 45.

"The passing of Representative Santiago is heartbreaking news for everyone that knew him,” Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket chairman, and James Gessner Jr., the Mohegans’ interim chairman, said in a statement. “His passion for public service was always evident. Time and again, he showed just how deep that conviction ran by working hard and doing right by his community. His leadership will be missed. Our prayers are with his family, his friends and all of the people he represented."

Santiago helped lead the ongoing effort to bring a casino to Bridgeport.

Gov. Ned Lamont directed that the state flag be lowered to half-staff in honor of Santiago.

“We were terribly saddened to learn this morning of the sudden passing of Representative Ezequiel Santiago, a man who truly loved public service and his hometown of Bridgeport,” the governor said in a statement.