Fort Lauderdale airport shooting
Fort Lauderdale airport shooting | |
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Location | Terminal 2, Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, Broward County, Florida, United States |
Coordinates | 26°04′22″N 80°08′36″W / 26.07278°N 80.14333°W |
Date | January 6, 2017 12:55 p.m. (EST) |
Attack type | Mass shooting, mass murder |
Weapons | Walther PPS 9mm semi-automatic pistol |
Deaths | 5 |
Injured | ~42 (6 by gunfire) |
Perpetrator | Esteban Santiago-Ruiz |
On January 6, 2017, a
Attack
On January 6, 2017, at 12:53 p.m. EST, the shooter, who had flown in from Alaska, opened fire with a
A nearby
Video showed travelers rushing out of the airport, and hundreds of people waiting on a ramp, as numerous law enforcement officers rushed to the scene.
Aftermath
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop notice, closing the airport to all but emergency flights.[11] Port Everglades, staffed by the American Red Cross, assisted about 10,000 passengers who were bussed there for food, shelter, and to connect to transportation.[1] The airport remained closed for the remainder of the day, but reopened to commercial flights early the following day.[1] Following the shooting, more than 20,000 pieces of baggage were left at the airport amid the chaos.[8]
After the shooting, Sheriff Israel called for a ban on
People
Victims
Five people died in the attack, all of whom were passing through Fort Lauderdale to begin cruises with their spouses.[16] The number of people injured due to the shooting was six, with three admitted to intensive care units.[17] The sheriff said that in addition to the people injured by gunshots, about 30 to 40 others were "injured in the panic" during the event.[1]
Perpetrator
Esteban Santiago-Ruiz | |
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Esteban Santiago-Ruiz (born March 16, 1990), a 26-year-old resident of Alaska, unemployed, and a former Alaska Army National Guard and Puerto Rican National Guard member, was arrested immediately after the shooting.[1][21]
Santiago flew on a Delta Air Lines flight from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska, connecting through Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. Investigators say that he declared a 9mm pistol with two magazines, locked in a secure container, his only checked baggage. He retrieved it in Fort Lauderdale and loaded the gun in the airport bathroom just before the attack.[3][22][23] Santiago was reported to be carrying military identification at the time of the shooting.[24]
Santiago was born in
The Puerto Rico Police opened an investigation into his erratic behavior and confiscated his firearms in March 2012. They were, however, returned to him in May 2014.[31][32] He also obtained a Florida driver's license in August 2012 even though he never lived in Florida, per official records. He provided the license on his successful application for permission to carry a concealed gun in Puerto Rico.[33][34][31] He later moved from Puerto Rico to Alaska, along with his brother, in the same year.[31][35]
While in Alaska, Santiago worked as a security guard for a private company,[20] where he was described as being "quiet and solitary." He became increasingly violent over the following year.[36] In January 2016, Santiago was arrested and charged with assault in an incident involving his girlfriend in Anchorage, Alaska. Police alleged that Santiago yelled at her, broke down the door, and choked her. The case resulted in a deferred prosecution agreement, and a domestic violence temporary protection order had expired.[37]
Santiago was subsequently scheduled to appear by telephone for sentencing in the domestic violence case in mid-April 2017.[38][39]
Santiago visited the
Alaska police took his handgun from him due to the incident and held it for 20 days before returned it in December because Santiago had not been convicted of a serious crime, involuntarily committed to a mental institution, or adjudicated as mentally defective.[45][46][4] He had also been dismissed as a security guard at Signal 88 Security on November 15, due to his mental health problems.[47][48]
Investigation
Santiago, the sole shooter in the attack,[49] fired a semi-automatic 9mm handgun at people in the baggage claim in Terminal 2.[50] Per court documents and a federal affidavit, Santiago admitted to planning the attack, buying a one-way ticket to the airport and checking a box with a Walther 9mm semiautomatic handgun and the two ammunition magazines he used in the shooting. He stated that he later loaded his handgun in a bathroom at the airport and "shot the first people he encountered" after coming out.[51][52][53]
Santiago made a flight reservation to
The Qupqugiaq Inn, a motel in midtown Anchorage where Santiago had recently lived, was evacuated and searched on the day of the shooting.[18][55] The FBI seized the motel's dumpster, towing it away to the Anchorage field office to be searched.[56] Agents conducted interviews with 175 witnesses and people who knew Santiago.[26]
TMZ released a leaked "surveillance video" of the shooting on January 8 which led to the launch of an investigation into the leak.[57][58] A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, identified as the individual who leaked the video, was put on paid suspension pending investigation.[59]
Investigators stated that during initial interviews, the suspect said that he had been under "government mind control" and "hearing voices" and that he had been "participating in jihadi chat rooms online" before the attack.[60] Santiago had not been flagged as having any link to terrorism,[37] and in April 2017, investigators reported that no link to terrorism was found.[61] During interviews with police after the attack, Santiago also stated that the gun used in the shooting was the same weapon seized and later returned by the police in Anchorage in 2016.[62][63]
Prosecution
The day after the shooting, federal officials filed criminal charges against him including performing an act of violence at an international airport, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and causing the death of a person through use of a firearm.[64]
A
After his arrest, Santiago was diagnosed with
Before trial, Santiago's attorneys and federal prosecutors made a plea agreement in which Santiago would plead guilty in return for a sentence of life in prison, avoiding the death penalty,[78] which federal prosecutors had originally considered pursuing.[79][64] On May 23, 2018, Santiago pleaded guilty in the shooting.[80][81][82]
On August 17, 2018, Santiago was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences plus 120 years in prison.[83][84][85] On September 12, 2018, he was transferred from FDC Miami to FTC Oklahoma City.[citation needed] On September 20, he was then transferred to USP Allenwood given Federal Bureau of Prisons number 15500-104.[citation needed] In June 2021, Santiago-Ruiz was transferred from Allenwood to USP Tucson.[citation needed]
See also
References
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- ^ WPBF web staff (January 7, 2017). "Gov. Rick Scott orders flags at half-staff for lives lost in airport shooting". WPBF. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
- ^ a b Farrell, Paul (February 14, 2018). "Sheriff Scott Israel: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".
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