Thread: Fort Lauderdale airport shooting: Five people shot dead by Florida gunman

Why does the lefty PC MSM withhold info about the terrorist's race, religion and resident status?

His name appears in the OP, Esteban Santiago.

They have the death penalty in Florida.

the terrorist's race, religion and resident status

It would appear that the terrorist is, or was, in the US Army. It has also been reported that he went to an FBI office some time ago and exhibited symptoms of mental illness. His firearm was transported legally.

Probably an Arab Moslem illegal immigrant using an Hispanic pseudonym then...

Originally Posted by ENT

His name appears in the OP, Esteban Santiago.

Did I ask for his name, numnuts?

not much left for a TD CSI man
ummm wait
I'll point the finger at
Black lives matter

He was seen wearing a Star Wars Tee Shirt, is that a significant sign, a hidden message!

US Veteran Arrested in Airport Shooting; 5 Dead, 8 Wounded - ABC News

An Army veteran who complained that the government was controlling his mind drew a gun from his checked luggage on arrival at the Fort Lauderdale airport and opened fire in the baggage claim area Friday, killing five people and wounding eight, authorities said.

He was taken into custody after throwing his empty weapon down and lying spread-eagle on the ground, one witness said.

"People started kind of screaming and trying to get out of any door they could or hide under the chairs," the witness, Mark Lea, told MSNBC. "He just kind of continued coming in, just randomly shooting at people, no rhyme or reason to it."

The gunman was identified as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago of Anchorage, Alaska, who served in Iraq with the National Guard but was demoted and discharged last year for unsatisfactory performance. His brother said he had been receiving psychological treatment recently.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Santiago had walked into the FBI office in Anchorage in November to say that the U.S. government was controlling his mind and making him watch Islamic State videos. Agents questioned him and called police, who took him for a mental health evaluation, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Authorities said the motive for the attack was under investigation. Shortly after the shooting, and before details of Santiago's mental health became public, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said that it remained to be seen whether it was terrorism or the work of "someone who is mentally deranged."

One witness said the attacker gunned down his victims without a word and kept shooting until he ran out of ammunition for his handgun, sending panicked travelers running out of the terminal and spilling onto the tarmac, baggage in hand.

Others hid in bathroom stalls or crouched behind cars or anything else they could find as police and paramedics rushed in to help the wounded and establish whether there were any other gunmen.

Bruce Hugon, who had flown in from Indianapolis for a vacation, was at the baggage carrousel when he heard four or five pops and saw everyone drop down on the ground. He said a woman next to him tried to get up and was shot in the head.

"The guy must have been standing over me at one point. I could smell the gunpowder," he said. "I thought I was about to feel a piercing pain or nothing at all because I would have been dead."

It is legal for airline passengers to travel with guns and ammunition as long as the firearms are put in a checked bag — not a carry-on — and are unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container. Guns must be declared to the airline at check-in.

Santiago arrived in Fort Lauderdale after taking off from Anchorage aboard a Delta flight Thursday night, checking only one piece of luggage — his gun, said Jesse Davis, police chief at the Anchorage airport.

At Fort Lauderdale, "after he claimed his bag, he went into the bathroom and loaded the gun and started shooting. We don't know why," said Chip LaMarca, a Broward County commissioner who was briefed by investigators.

The bloodshed is likely to raise questions of whether aviation safety officials need to change the rules.

The attack also exposed another weak point in airport security: While travelers have to take off their shoes, put their carry-on luggage through X-ray machines and pass through metal detectors to reach the gates, many other sections of airports, such as ticket counters and baggage claim areas, are more lightly secured and more vulnerable to attack.

In 2013, a gunman with a grudge against the Transportation Security Administration shot and killed one of the agency's screeners and wounded three others during a rampage at Los Angeles International Airport. Last November, an airline worker was shot and killed near an employee parking lot at Oklahoma City's airport, and in 2015 a machete-wielding man was shot to death after he attacked federal security officers at the New Orleans airport.

"While we have authorized doubling the number of TSA canine teams to try to prevent tragedies like this, the fact is that wherever there are crowds, such as at our airports, we remain vulnerable to these types of attacks," Nelson said.

The Fort Lauderdale 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," according to Lea. The killer went through about three magazines before running out of ammunition, Lea said.

"He threw the gun down and laid spread-eagle on the ground until the officer came up to him," Lea said.

The gunman was arrested unharmed, with no shots fired by law enforcement officers, and was being questioned by the FBI, Sheriff Scott Israel said.

The condition of the wounded was not disclosed. At least one of the victims was seen lying in a pool of blood with what appeared to be a head wound.

The airport was shut down, with incoming flights diverted and outgoing flights held on the ground.

President Barack Obama was briefed by his Homeland Security adviser, the White House said. President-elect Donald Trump said that it is a "disgraceful situation that's happening in our country and throughout the world" and that it was too soon to say whether it was a terrorist attack.

Santiago's brother, Bryan, told the AP that his brother had been receiving psychological treatment in Alaska. He said Santiago's girlfriend alerted the family to the situation in recent months. Bryan Santiago said that he didn't know what his brother was being treated for and that they never talked about it.

He said Esteban Santiago was born in New Jersey and moved to Puerto Rico when he was 2. He was sent to Iraq in 2010 and spent a year there with the 130th Engineer Battalion, according to Puerto Rico National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Dahlen. He later joined the Alaska National Guard.

The Pentagon said Santiago had gone AWOL several times during his stint with the Alaska National Guard and was demoted — from specialist to private first class — and given a general discharge, which is lower than an honorable discharge.

John Schilcher told Fox News said he came up to the baggage claim and heard the first gunshot as he picked up 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."

"I was down on the floor. When we finally looked up there was a policeman standing over me," he said. "That's when I assumed it was safe."

He's a terrorist. He's a Christian...Ban Christians from the USA!

He was in the army...Ban American GIs from the USA!

He was just another nutter with access to a gun...

Ban guns.

Police in Florida have questioned a suspected gunman after five people were killed and eight injured in a shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport.



The suspect has been identified by police as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, an Iraq war veteran.

Officials say they have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive.

US media say the man may have been mentally disturbed. He reportedly said the government was controlling his mind and made him watch jihadist videos.

The attacker opened fire at the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 as passengers were collecting their luggage. Witnesses said he walked along the carousals and did not say anything as he shot people who were trying to run or hide.

He surrendered to police when he ran out of ammunition, witnesses added.
Fort Lauderdale airport shooting: Suspect in custody - BBC News

Originally Posted by ENT

He reportedly said the government was controlling his mind a

See what happens when you don't wear a tin foil hat....

...especially when watching jihad videos or saying your prayers five times a day to keep away the waswasa .......

Originally Posted by ENT

...especially when watching jihad videos or saying your prayers five times a day to keep away the waswasa .......

Nothing like a good rollicking jihad video first thing in the morning. They go especially well with a bowl of high fiber cereal and a big mug of tea.....and set you up for the whole day....

On multiple screens as mentally ill, had been hospitalized and treated, thought the CIA was controlling his mind - and told the FBI that -yet........bought a semi-automatic handgun legally AND had a legal concealed carry permit.


Great system.

yes it really is working a treat except for those silly victims who weren't packin'.

will they ever learn?

Originally Posted by Troy

He's a terrorist. He's a Christian...Ban Christians from the USA!

He was in the army...Ban American GIs from the USA!

He was just another nutter with access to a gun...

Just hope your not going "Cold Turkey" because the usual suspects are missing ?

If you are... just type "Terrorist Attack" in Google search news.

Originally Posted by ENT

Lea said the man said nothing as we he went through three magazines before giving up and sprawling spread-eagle on the flood as a police officer took him into custody. "He had no intention of escaping,"

He probably was expecting a hail of bullets whatever he did. What stopped the police in this instance but not elsewhere in the western world?

Originally Posted by Troy

He's a terrorist. He's a Christian...

Where does it say he is a Christian?

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

On multiple screens as mentally ill, had been hospitalized and treated, thought the CIA was controlling his mind - and told the FBI that -yet........bought a semi-automatic handgun legally AND had a legal concealed carry permit.


Great system.

Do you think it would be better to have doctors be able to dictate citizens civil liberties on a whim?

I dont. Doctors should never be able to restrict a citizens rights. Its still possible today, right now, but with 300,000,000 people and 300,000,000 guns, there is going to be people that slip through the cracks.

These people, the psychos and their actions shouldn't dictate what the vast majority of legal law abiding gun owners do.

Anyway you say 'semi-auto handgun' like its something special or extra dangerous. Unless its a revolver or derringer type pistol, its gonna be a 'semi-auto' and even then, revolvers are still 1 shot per trigger pull. Just classed different.

Originally Posted by cyrille

will they ever learn?

There is no learning about it. Nothing to learn. This dude was a psycho and thats it. The rest of legal gun owning population shouldn't have to pay for this crazy persons craziness.

Originally Posted by Slick

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

On multiple screens as mentally ill, had been hospitalized and treated, thought the CIA was controlling his mind - and told the FBI that -yet........bought a semi-automatic handgun legally AND had a legal concealed carry permit.


Great system.

Do you think it would be better to have doctors be able to dictate citizens civil liberties on a whim?

I dont. Doctors should never be able to restrict a citizens rights. Its still possible today, right now, but with 300,000,000 people and 300,000,000 guns, there is going to be people that slip through the cracks.

These people, the psychos and their actions shouldn't dictate what the vast majority of legal law abiding gun owners do.

I am an American, a combat veteran, and was a firearms instructor. I haven't lived in the US for forty years, and will never return. Thus, I really have no dog in this fight. If Americans are happy being gunned down in the streets to protect "their rights", have at it.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

If Americans are happy being gunned down in the streets to protect "their rights", have at it.

Fair enough but we aren't being 'gunned down in the streets' don't be hysterical.

Just cause you booked after Vietnam and thus 'washed your hands' of America doesn't mean you can sit with the Pinoys and shitbag it, especially with Duterte over there being a psycho. A psycho that is LITERALLY gunning people down in the streets.

Kinda fucked up of you to be sarcastic of "our rights".