Moment airport gunman took aim
THIS is the moment a lone gunman begins the rampage which left five people dead at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida.
CCTV footage emerged yesterday of former serviceman Esteban Santiago firing his first shots in the baggage hall on Friday. Travellers, including children and elderly people, appear in the 20-second clip on the TMZ website which obtained the footage.
The attacker – wearing a blue longsleeved T-shirt – is seen striding into frame, drawing a handgun from his waistband. He fires three times before running out of the frame, as other passengers scatter, crouch down or attempt to take cover.
Witnesses said Santiago reloaded his weapon twice before throwing it to the ground and lying spread-eagled on the ground. He was arrested unharmed.
A British great-grandmother has been named among the dead. Olga Woltering, 84, was on her way to a Caribbean cruise with her husband Ralph to celebrate his 90th birthday when she was shot.
Mrs Woltering, originally from Ipswich, had lived in the US since 1955 and taken out citizenship there.
Mr Woltering suffered serious injuries in the attack. Friends said the couple had travelled a day early to avoid an impending ice storm.
Santiago, a 26-year-old who served in Iraq with the Puerto Rico National Guard, legally checked a gun and ammunition into the luggage hold of the Delta flight from Anchorage, Alaska.
In recent months he had come to the attention of the authorities after suffering mental health problems. His gun was confiscated but returned days later.
A British relative of Mrs Woltering expressed shock that her killer was able to take a weapon on a flight. Nephew Brian Warren, from Warwickshire, said: ‘I don’t think people should go round on airplanes with guns in suitcases.’
The gunman’s brother, Bryan Santiago, questioned: ‘How is it possible that the federal government knows [he is unwell], they hospitalise him for only four days, and then give him his weapon back?’
The authorities said they don’t know why Santiago chose his target and have not ruled out terrorism. A photo on social media shows him wearing a Middle Eastern-style scarf and giving a onefingered jihadi salute.
He has been charged with violence at an international airport resulting in death, which carries a death penalty or life sentence, and two firearms offences. He is due in court today.