Shots Fired at Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Shots+Fired+at+Fort+Lauderdale%2C+Florida

Kate Wasson, Editor-at-Large

On Fri. Jan. 6, a gunman opened fire at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida. The gunman, Esteban Santiago, was a veteran of the security guard living in Alaska.

At 12:55 p.m., shots were fired at baggage claim at the airport, near Terminal 2.

“We were all here in Terminal 2 at Delta when the shooting started and everybody just scattered. It was mass hysteria,”  Survivor Dwayne Dickinson told CNN. “I jumped over the counter once I realized it was shooting.”

The shooter took his one bag, which held his gun, from the baggage claim and went to the bathroom to load it. Five people were killed and six were injured.

After being deployed to Iraq from April 2010 to February 2011, Santiago reported hearing voices in his head. He believed that an intelligence agency told him to watch ISIS videos, though he said he did not mean to harm anyone.

In November, concerned authorities tested his mental health and confiscated his gun- the same gun used in the shooting.

Because the authorities found no wrongdoing, the gun was returned to Santiago in December, according to BBC.

If guns are kept in a locked, hard-sided container as a checked baggage, then flying with firearms are legal. Firearm parts, including magazines, clips, bolts and firing pins are only to be transported in checked baggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

On Mon. Jan. 9, Santiago was charged with three federal crimes and could possibly face the death penalty.