Florida airport shooter was forced to fight for ISIS

[Anthea]

Florida shooting highlights limits of U.S. airport security

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The deadly shooting at a Florida airport on Friday is likely to rekindle an ongoing debate over whether screening systems should be even more exacting.

But experts say preventing attacks like the one on Friday, when a gunman opened fire in a baggage claim area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, is almost impossible given the large public areas at U.S. airports, despite the billions of dollars spent on security.

"To the extent it was not in a secure area, it doesn't really identify any issues around airport security," said Robert Mann, an aviation consultant. "A guy walks into a bar, a guy walks into an airport baggage claim room – neither of them are secure."

Friday's attack killed five people and injured at least eight, authorities said.

Security at most major airports worldwide is generally focused on protecting aircraft from potential attackers and deadly devices, rather than the airports themselves. As a result, much of the space at terminals is easily accessible to the public, with no formal screening before passengers go through checkpoints to get to their departure gates.

The debate over whether to extend security screening to public areas intensified following the bombings inside a terminal at Brussels Airport in March 2016, which killed 32 people and injured hundreds.

Some critics have cited as a model Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, where private security companies trained by the national security agency Shin Bet and backed by police officers profile passengers, question individual travelers and use bomb detectors at the airport's entrance.

But experts say that approach has drawbacks, possibly just shifting the target to another part of the airport.

"It is logistically impractical to try to protect these areas, unfortunately, and the reason is no matter how far you move the boundary out, you will always have some sort of soft target area," Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst, said.

The cost of implementing that type of screening would also be prohibitive, given the number of major U.S. airports.

In response to the Florida shooting, law enforcement agencies at several U.S. airports said they beefed up security presence, including in Chicago and New York.

Friday's shooting, in which the gunman apparently retrieved a checked gun from his luggage, loaded it in a bathroom and then opened fire, could prompt debate about whether travelers should be permitted to stow guns in checked bags, Harteveldt said.

Addressing one potential danger often simply creates an opportunity for another type of threat, Mann said.

"It's essentially whack-a-mole," Mann said. "That's what security has always been."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-shoo ... tml?ref=gs

[Anthea]

Shooting At Ft. Lauderdale Airport Leaves 5 Dead

A gunman opened fire in a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport.
At least 5 people were killed and eight were injured, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspected shooter has been taken into custody. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) identified him as Esteban Santiago.

A gunman opened fire Friday at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, killing five people and injuring eight others before being taken into custody, authorities said.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) identified the shooter in a television interview as Esteban Santiago. Despite some reports to the contrary, no other attacks took place in different parts of the airport, said Broward Sheriff Scott Israel.

The attack took place just before 1 p.m. local time in the baggage claim area.

“We have no evidence at this time that he was acting with anyone else,” Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief said of the shooter. No motive has been identified.

Mark Lea, a witness to the shooting, told CBS News that the attack appeared to be random. The suspect was “not screaming anything, not shouting anything,” Lea said. “He was just picking off things like target practice.” Authorities arrested him without incident.

A video shared from inside the airport showed people huddled on the ground and crying. At the end of the footage, at least one woman could be seen bleeding on the ground.

“The casings were flying all around us,” another woman says in the video.

Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary, tweeted from the scene that people were running.

Videos and photos showed people waiting outside on the tarmac, and then being allowed back inside. At about 2:30 p.m. local time, people could be seen running back out onto the tarmac.

Gina Erpardo and her family were waiting for their flight home to Detroit, Michigan, after a cruise to the Bahamas when the shooting broke out. Erpardo, 39, was eating hamburgers with her husband and two sons one level above the baggage claim when she heard the gunshots.

“First I heard screaming and everybody was running like crazy in a panic,” Erpardo told The Huffington Post on Friday. “While I was trying to understand what was going on, I heard shots.”

Erpardo says she and her husband immediately lay down on top of their 5-year-old and 10-year-old sons to protect them. She said the first thought she had was of the Istanbul nightclub attack that left at least 39 dead just days ago.

“At that moment, I was lying down on my 5-year-old son, and I was just trying to protect him because I thought somebody was going to come with a gun and shoot everyone,” Erpardo said.

Airport staff led the family family outside, where 200 to 300 others were being held until police clear the area, Erpardo said. She said her sons are still shaking from fear, but everyone in the family is physically unharmed.

Link to Full Article - Videos - Photos:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ft- ... 5f8588a0bb

[Anthea]

Fort Lauderdale Airport shooting suspect Esteban Santiago-Ruiz 'told FBI he was forced to fight for ISIS'

he suspected gunman behind the bloody rampage at a Florida airport previously told the FBI he had been forced to fight for ISIS, it has been reported.

Esteban Santiago-Ruiz is being held on suspicion of killing five people after opening fire at a baggage reclaim area at Fort Lauderdale on Friday.

The 26-year-old, an Iraq veteran, was known to the FBI, according to CBS News.

He is believed to have walked into the FBI office in Anchorage last November and told agents he was being forced to fight for ISIS, sources told CBS.

NEW: In Nov. 2016, FLL suspect walked into FBI office in Anchorage, claiming he was being forced to fight for ISIS, sources tell CBS News.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2017

It comes as his aunt, Maria Ruiz Rivera, claimed he was hospitalised with mental health issues after a tour of duty in Iraq five years ago.

She told newjersey.com: "He lost his mind."



The aunt was reportedly visited by FBI agents while she was being interviewed by reporters at her home in Union City, New Jersey.

She said Santiago-Ruiz was happy after the recent birth of his son.

She told the website he “was happy with the kid” after the birth of the child last year.

“I don’t know why this happened,” she told them.

Santiago-Ruiz reportedly appeared alone in the Terminal 2 baggage claim area wearing a Star Wars shirt.

The suspect is believed to be from New Jersey, lived in Alaska for some time and had a concealed carry permit for his gun, American media reported.

Santiago-Ruiz reportedly had a history of mental problems and a criminal record with minor traffic violations.

In January last year, a domestic violence case saw him was charged with fourth-degree assault and property damage, the Daily Mail reported, but he settled the charges by "agreeing to unknown requirements".

Santiago-Ruiz was said to be receiving treatment for his mental health after being contacted by the FBI when his employer in Alaska raised concerns about something he had said.

He most recently resided in Naples, the website said, but he lived in Anchorage from for two years until last year.

His girlfriend and child continued to live in the Alaskan city.

According to reports, Santiago-Ruiz flew into Fort Lauderdale and his handgun was in his checked bag.

His itinerary is said to have begun in Alaska before a connecting flight, reported as either Canada or Minneapolis.

Speaking on CNN, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who had spoken with TSA officials today, said that Santiago-Ruiz may have become embroiled in an altercation on his flight.

"I know that was mentioned as a potential cause and they wanted to kind of look into that a little further and get to that point," Senator Rubio said.

The shooting began just before 1pm local time.

On arrival in the baggage claim area Santiago-Ruiz collected his luggage before going into the men’s toilet to take out the weapon, Broward Commisioner Chip LaMarca reportedly tweeted.

Santiago-Ruiz, said to be an army reservist and wearing a blue Star Wars T-shirt, then came out firing.

NBC News said he was born in March, 1990, and recently lived in Alaska.

He was a combat engineer in the Army National Guard, serving in Iraq for 12 months, it was reported.

But he was honorably discharged last year, the Army Criminal Investigation Division told the Daily Mail.

Air Canada later tweeted: "We confirm that we have no record of such a passenger by that name, or checked guns, on any of our flights to Fort Lauderdale."

The airline had two flights landing around midday from Canada but the services from Montreal and Toronto, due at 11.50am and 12.07pm respectively, were listed as delayed until 2pm arrivals.

The airline told Canadian media it held those flights back.

An Air Canada spokeswoman told CBC all passengers "are accounted for and safe."

"Passengers on our departing flights were safely evacuated on the tarmac and arriving flights 1602 from (Montreal) and 1622 from (Toronto) are being held off gate for the time being," the airline said.

Link to Full Article - Photos:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... ct-9577604