National Post (National Edition)
SHOOTER IN STAR WARS T-SHIRT KILLS FIVE AT FLORIDA AIRPORT
Man in custody after 5 shot dead, 13 wounded
Five people were killed and 13 wounded Friday after a gunman carrying military identification and wearing a Star Wars T-shirt opened fire in the baggage area of Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida.
The gunman, named as Esteban Santiago, arrived at Terminal 2, where Air Canada and Delta operate flights, and picked up his luggage. Federal law enforcement officials said Santiago went into a bathroom, took a gun out of his bag, loaded it, and then returned to the baggage area.
As he silently approached the baggage area, he started firing, witnesses told NBC Miami. He did not appear to be targeting anyone in particular, “popping off bullets at random”.
John Schilcher told Fox News he came up to the baggage claim and heard the first gunshot as he picked his bag off a carousel.
“The person next to me fell to the ground and then I started hearing other pops. And as this happened, other people started falling and you could hear it and smell it, and people on either side of me were going down and I just dropped to the ground,” said Schilcher, who was there with his wife and mother-in-law.
“The firing just went on and on,” he said.
He said the gunman emptied his weapon and reloaded, and “it was eerily quiet.”
“I was down on the floor, when we finally looked up there was a policeman standing over me,” Schilcher said. “That’s when I assumed it was safe.”
Mark Lea, a 53-year-old financial adviser from Minneapolis, who was in baggage claim area, said: “I was dodging bullets and trying to help people get out of the way.
“At first we thought it was firecrackers. Everyone started screaming and running. The shooter made his way down through baggage claim. He had what looked like a 9mm and emptied his entire clip. People were trying to run.”
Lea said the gunman said nothing as he “went up and down the carousels of the baggage claim, shooting through luggage to get at people that were hiding.”
The killer had a handgun and went through about three magazines of ammunition, Lea said.
Then the attacker threw down his weapon and lay spread-eagle on the ground until he was taken into custody.
Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary, was in the airport at the time. “Everyone is running,” he tweeted. Later, he added: “All seems calm now, but the police aren’t letting anyone out of the airport — at least, not where I am.”
Eric Whiteside had just landed, and said: “We were told it was people on our flight who were victims.”
He added: “I grabbed our kids and we ran out on to the tarmac, to hide behind some luggage cars. We were maybe between the baggage claim and security — maybe 50 yards. We were out there for 45 minutes, maybe an hour, before we went back in.”
“It looked like a war zone — suitcases everywhere, hats on the ground,” said Whiteside.
The shooting happened around 1 p.m. local time, as the busy airport, which is a major hub between the United States, Europe and the Caribbean, was packed with tourists.
The airport remained tense in the hours after the shooting, with reports of further shots heard in other parts of the airport. Hundreds of people were seen running for shelter in live television pictures amid unconfirmed witness reports of a second shooter.
Chip LaMarca, a Broward County commissioner who was briefed on the attack by the sheriff’s office, said of the suspect: “After he claimed his bag, he went into the bathroom and loaded the gun and started shooting. We don’t know why.”
Florida senator Bill Nelson named Santiago as the gunman who was taken into custody. Nelson said the 26-year-old was carrying a military ID.
Santiago is a U.S. citizen with ties to New Jersey, according to two federal officials, but other details of his background did not immediately come into focus Friday afternoon.
Jay Cohen was dropped off at the airport for a flight, and he arrived after the gunfire had already stopped, finding an unusual scene at the usually bustling facility.
“The airport was like a ghost town,” Cohen, 51, a consultant, said in a telephone interview. “I didn’t see anyone around.”
It wasn’t until he walked all the way up to the Delta counter without encountering a line or a single soul that he noticed about 20 people huddled together behind a nearby concrete wall. He peeked over the counter and saw the Delta employees laying on the ground trying to cover their heads with their hands.
“Hurry up get behind here,” someone whispered to him. “Active shooter! Active shooter!”
As he looked around the terminal he previously thought was abandoned, he now could see people hiding under benches, squished up against windows.
Then Cohen saw police running full speed through the terminal, some with guns drawn, others with their hands on their holsters, while other police cars began screaming up to the curb.
“It went from eerie quiet from when I walked in to pure mayhem in just minutes,” he said. “It was chaos.”
Originally, officials said the man had come off a Canadian flight. But Canadian Embassy spokeswoman Christine Constantin said in an email to The Associated Press that the suspect did not travel from Canada and was not on an Air Canada flight. She said the suspect has no connection to Canada.
“We understand from officials he was on a flight originating in Anchorage, transiting through Minneapolis and landing in Ft. Lauderdale,” Constantin’s email said.
Donald Trump, who takes over as president in a fortnight, said he was following events. “Monitoring the terrible situation in Florida. Just spoke to Governor Scott. Thoughts and prayers for all. Stay safe!”