Gun used in Fort Lauderdale Airport was in CHECKED BAGGAGE

How will the Letf use this to effect traveling with your gun?

Five dead, eight injured at Fort Lauderdale airport; suspect had gun in checked bag

A gunman killed five people and injured eight Friday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which was forced to shut down and thrust into chaos as reports of a second shooter sent passengers scrambling about an hour after the first shooting.

The suspected gunman was identified as Esteban Santiago, law enforcement officers told the Miami Herald. He is thought to have been a passenger on a flight from Canada that landed at FLL at around noon with a checked gun in his baggage. After retrieving his bag, he is believed to have gone into the bathroom and loaded the weapon. Then he stepped into the Terminal 2 baggage-claim area and began shooting.

Santiago was carrying some form of military ID. He is suspected of being a former U.S. Army soldier from the New Jersey area.

After the initial shooting, which took place just before 1 p.m., the Broward Sheriff’s Office reported it had arrested a man suspected of opening fire inside a baggage claim area. He was thought to be a lone shooter.

About an hour later, a second gunman was reported — erroneously, as it turned out — at a different airport terminal, causing panic and sending dozens of passengers fleeing across the tarmac as police in armored gear responded with drawn weapons. Police and passengers at the terminal took cover behind parked cars.

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said only the first incident, in Terminal 2, was a shooting. The second incident, in Terminal 1, involved a person injured during the airport evacuation, Israel said.

Passengers had panicked after BSO and the Transportation Safety Administration said a second shooter might be at large and urged people at the airport to shelter in place. Some people rushed out of the Terminal 1 arrivals area, some with their hands up.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who was briefed by TSA and FLL officials, first identified the suspect as Santiago, and said Santiago carried some sort of military ID.

President Barack Obama was apprised of the shooting Friday afternoon, the White House said. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence spoke to Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who was en route to Fort Lauderdale.

“Just spoke to Governor Scott,” Trump wrote. “Thoughts and prayers for all. Stay safe!”

The second incident alarmed passengers already rattled by the earlier bloodshed. BSO deputies sat people down on the curb between Terminals 1 and 2. Then, very suddenly, the deputies all ran across an access area and huddled behind parked cars. A BSO deputy screamed “Get down!” Then another deputy looked at people gathered above the departures level and yelled for everyone to get back.

Jason Perez, a Southwest Airlines employee who checks passengers’ bags outside Terminal 1, was among a crowd of dozens standing outside the terminal after the shooting in Terminal 2 when a crowd fled out of the departure lobby and began running toward him and across the car lanes outside the terminal.

“We just seen a stampede of people running toward us,” he said.

“This is crazy,” he said as an alarm went off and a woman’s calm voice told everyone to remain calm.

One WPLG-ABC 10 live shot at 2:45 p.m. showed hundreds of travelers walking along railroad tracks east of the airport — many of them walking with their hands above their head to show they were not carrying a weapon.

Police reported receiving the first call that shots were fired at the airport at 12:55 p.m. The initial shooting caused passengers to flee the baggage claim area and brought the airport to a standstill as flights were temporarily grounded and roads around the airport were closed to traffic.

As security tightened around the airport and Miami International Airport, federal officials said the FBI was sending a terrorism task to investigate the shooting in Fort Lauderdale. But there was no indication yet that the incident is related to terrorism.

Mike Leverock, an FBI spokesman, said agents were working with local authorities in response to the shooting.

Eyewitnesses at the airport began to post photos and other messages on Twitter shortly after the shooting, including one image that showed a person shot and bleeding while seated in a corner outside of the terminal.

Mark Lea, who said he was a witness to the shootings, told MSNBC that the shooter was a man, wearing a Star Wars T-shirt, and that he walked into the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 and opened fire with a single handgun.

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,” Lea told MSNBC.

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who worked for President George W. Bush, tweeted that he was at the airport and “shots have been fired. Everyone is running.”

Fleischer later tweeted that “all seems calm now but the police aren’t letting anyone out of the airport.”

On the ground, police closed roads leading into the airport, bringing traffic to a standstill on I-595 East just east of I-95. Two buses, ambulances and multiple police cruisers could be seen on the airport’s tarmac and throughout the arrival and departure areas.

With armored vehicles and squad cars, BSO blocked the entry to the arrivals level of FLL. Cruisers with flashing lights are stationed around each terminal on the upper departure level.

No TSA employees were hurt during the shooting, said spokesman Mark Howell.

Howell said all passengers in Terminal 2 will be asked to exit and go through security again.

“There will be major delays,” Howell said. “We are bringing in extra resources but they are having a hard time getting in there because of the traffic snarls.”

The Fort Lauderdale airport, which does not have its own police force and relies on BSO for law enforcement, handles about 800 flights a day and 25 million passengers a year. In 2014, the Transportation Security Administration reported making 49 gun seizures at the Fort Lauderdale airport — tied with Tampa International Airport for the seventh most gun seizures in the nation.

In the wake of the shooting news, Miami-Dade officials said they beefed up security at MIA and PortMiami, its two main travel hubs. County spokesman Michael Hernández said “out of an abundance of caution” the county was instituting “enhanced” security at both county-owned facilities.

Those include a checkpoint at the entrance of the PortMiami tunnel off the MacArthur Causeway and additional police officers patrolling the port and airport.

Though the number of officers at MIA has not increased, their presence was high profile, said Suzy Trutie, an MIA spokeswoman. Many police were carrying long rifles out in the open. And police officers were posted inside terminals and on the airport’s perimeter.

“Just really being on high alert,” Trutie said.

Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said he has his folks on standby in case they’re needed in Fort Lauderdale.

He’s placed the seaport and MIA on high alert, the highest security level possible unless feds become involved here.

“As an abundance of caution, we’re treating it as a worst-case scenario,” he said.

The Current rules on travailing with a firearm are as follows:

You may transport unloaded firearms in a locked hard-sided container as checked baggage only. Declare the firearm and/or ammunition to the airline when checking your bag at the ticket counter. The container must completely secure the firearm from being accessed. Locked cases that can be easily opened are not permitted. Be aware that the container the firearm was in when purchased may not adequately secure the firearm when it is transported in checked baggage.

Contact the TSA Contact Center with questions you have regarding TSA firearm regulations and for clarification on what you may or may not transport in your carry-on or checked baggage.

Firearms

When traveling, comply with the laws concerning possession of firearms as they vary by local, state and international governments.

Declare each firearm each time you present it for transport as checked baggage. Ask your airline about limitations or fees that may apply.

Firearms must be unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container and transported as checked baggage only. Only the passenger should retain the key or combination to the lock.

Firearm parts, including magazines, clips, bolts and firing pins, are prohibited in carry-on baggage, but may be transported in checked baggage.

Replica firearms, including firearm replicas that are toys, may be transported in checked baggage only.

Rifle scopes are permitted in carry-on and checked baggage.

United States Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 44, firearm definitions includes: any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, or is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; and any destructive device. As defined by 49 CFR 1540.5 a loaded firearm has a live round of ammunition, or any component thereof, in the chamber or cylinder or in a magazine inserted in the firearm.

Ammunition

Ammunition is prohibited in carry-on baggage, but may be transported in checked baggage.

Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm. Read the requirements governing the transport of ammunition in checked baggage as defined by 49 CFR 175.10 (a)(8).

Small arms ammunition, including ammunition not exceeding .75 caliber and shotgun shells of any gauge, may be carried in the same hard-sided case as the firearm.