TERROR IN TERMINAL 2
Ex-soldier kills 5, wounds 8 after flying into Florida airport and loading gun in bathroom
A DERANGED lone gunman, his gun and ammo legally packed in his luggage, methodically executed five fellow passengers and wounded eight more Friday in a Florida airport rampage.
Army National Guard veteran Esteban Santiago sprayed several clips of bullets across a blood-spattered baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shortly after landing, officials said. Santiago, 26, a New Jersey native and Iraq War veteran, said nothing as he cut a lethal swath among the people waiting for their luggage — travel bags that wound up scattered by passengers running for their lives.
The mass killer, in a strange twist, retrieved his gun and ammunition from his checked luggage after pulling his bag off the carousel, officials said.
The shooter, wearing a “Star Wars” T-shirt, entered a nearby airport bathroom and loaded the weapon before coming out blasting, said Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca.
The silent gunman “went up and down the carousels of the baggage claim, shooting through luggage to get at people who were hiding,” witness Mark Lea told MSNBC-TV.
“People started kind of screaming and trying to get out of any door they could or hide under the chairs,” Lea said. “He just kind of continued coming in, just randomly shooting.”
One gunshot victim was spotted on the terminal floor with blood pouring from a head wound.
Authorities said it appeared that Santiago acted alone.
The motive for the killing spree barely one week into the new year remained a mystery after Santiago tossed his empty weapon down, spread himself across the airport floor and surrendered. Law enforcement officers didn’ t fire.
“This could be someone who is mentally deranged, or in fact it could be someone who had a much more sinister motive that we have to worry about every day . . . terrorism,” said Florida Sen. Bill Nelson.
Santiago argued with another passenger aboard the flight to Florida, according to a CBS-TV report in Miami. It was unclear if the dispute ignited his homicidal rage.
Terrified passengers bolted from the lower level of Terminal 2 when the shooting started just before 1 p.m., while others sprinted frantically across the tarmac, authorities said.
Airline passengers can legally transport guns and ammunition aboard flights inside a checked bag — but not in a carry-on. The guns must be unloaded, locked in a hard-sided container and declared to the airline at check-in.
Reports indicated that Santiago had a history of psychiatric issues, including a November claim made to FBI agents in Anchorage that he was fighting against his will for ISIS.
He was also targeted in a child pornography probe that failed to produce charges in either 2011 or 2012, CBS News reported.
Santiago was given a general discharge for unsatisfactory performance in August by the Alaskan National Guard, although no details were available late Friday.
He seemed to select his victims