Gunman kills 5, wounds 8 at Ft. Lauderdale airport

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - A gunman believed to be an Iraq war veteran opened fire at a baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale's international airport on Friday, killing five people and wounding eight before being taken into custody, officials and witnesses said.

The shooting spree sent panicked travelers running for cover inside the terminal and on the runway apron, with dozens of people corralled into large groups on the tarmac. Aviation authorities shut down air traffic, stranding hundreds of travelers.

The shooter was identified as Esteban Santiago, 26, and was carrying U.S. military identification, according to a spokesman for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who spoke with officials at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Santiago served from 2007 to 2016 in the Puerto Rico National Guard and Alaska National Guard including a deployment to Iraq from 2010 to 2011, according to the Pentagon.

A private first class and combat engineer, he received half a dozen medals before being transferred to the inactive ready reserve in August last year.

The gunman had arrived on a flight to Fort Lauderdale with a checked gun in his bag, and upon claiming the luggage went to the bathroom to load the gun, Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said on Twitter. He came out firing, LaMarca said, and witnesses told MSNBC television he only stopped upon running out of ammunition, at which point he surrendered to police.

Cellphone video posted on social media showed victims on the floor next to a carousel, with people on their knees attempting to provide aid. At least two victims had pools of blood from apparent head wounds.

Flying with firearms is routine and legal in the United States as long as the guns are kept in a locked, hard-sided container as checked baggage only, under TSA rules. Ammunition is prohibited in carry-on bags but is allowed in checked luggage.

The shooter was unharmed as law enforcement officers never fired a shot, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters at the airport, adding it was too early to assign a motive.

"At this point, it looks like he acted alone," Israel said while police continued to search the airport.

The shooter, who wore a "Star Wars" T-shirt, said nothing as he fired, witnesses told MSNBC. He appeared to use a 9 mm handgun, which he tossed aside upon firing all his rounds, MSNBC reported.

"This is a senseless act of evil," Florida Governor Rick Scott told reporters.

The attack was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years, some inspired by militants with an extreme view of Islam, others carried out by loners or the mentally disturbed who have easy access to weapons under U.S. gun laws.

"DIFFERENT PERSON" AFTER IRAQ

Attention was likely to focus on impact of his service in the Iraq war. An aunt said he came back from the war "a different person" after his deployment, MSNBC reported.

About 90 minutes after the attack, panic broke out anew with passengers and police running frantically about at a separate terminal, but Israel said there were no other reports of shots being fired.

John Schlicher, who told MSNBC he saw the attack, described the shooter as a slender man who was "directly firing at us" while passengers waited for their bags.

His wife gave first aid to someone who had been shot in the head, and his mother-in-law used her sweater to tend to another victim but it turned out that person was already dead, he said.

Mark Lea, another eyewitness, told MSNBC, "He didn't say anything; he was quiet the whole time."

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the second largest in South Florida, serving as an intercontinental gateway, with Miami International Airport known as the primary airport for international flights in the area.

Nearly two months ago a former Southwest Airlines worker killed an employee of the company at Oklahoma City's airport in what police called a premeditated act.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place last June, when a gunman apparently inspired by Islamic State killed 49 people and wounded 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

One of the most shocking was in 2012, when a man entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and shot dead 20 first-graders and six adults.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sailor's death lifts toll in Chattanooga shooting rampage

CHATTANOOGA -- The death toll in the mass shooting of US military personnel in Tennessee rose to five Saturday as investigators pursued the motive behind the rampage.

In a brief statement, the US Navy said a petty officer succumbed overnight to wounds he sustained in Thursday's attack on two military centers in Chattanooga.

The Navy did not identify the sailor, but relatives named him as Petty Officer Randall Smith, a father of three daughters who had recently re-enlisted and transferred to Chattanooga.

"It's hard to understand how somebody can hurt somebody that's serving for you, for your freedom, for your safety," his step-grandmother Darlene Proxmire told WANE television in Indiana.

Four Marines also died in the attack -- which authorities are treating as "an act of terrorism" -- before the gunman, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez died in a shootout with police.

The FBI has asked foreign intelligence agencies to help trace Abdulazeez's movements and activities abroad, and analysts are monitoring his activity on social media.

The 24-year-old was a naturalized US citizen born in Kuwait.

"Every one of our resources are being devoted to this investigation," Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke told CNN.

But the FBI warned against jumping to conclusions, after Michael McCaul, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, branded the assault "an ISIS-inspired attack."

"At this time, we have no indication that he was inspired by or directed by anyone other than himself," FBI special agent Ed Reinhold said, referring to Abdulazeez.

"We obviously want to know what his thoughts were and who else he was associating with."

The shooting has jarred the city of 168,000, where the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga condemned the attack and cancelled its end-of-Ramadan Eid al-Fitr celebrations out of respect for the victims.

- Troubled past? -

Going into the weekend, more details about Abdulazeez -- a University of Tennessee engineering graduate and mixed martial arts enthusiast who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood -- slowly emerged.

Investigators were looking at Abdulazeez's foreign travel, with a reported trip to Jordan last year of particular interest.

There was evidence, however, that he came from a troubled family. Divorce papers filed by his mother alleged that his father beat his wife and five children.

The father was also reportedly investigated for ties to a terrorist group, but ultimately was cleared.

Abdulazeez's only known brush with the law was in April, when he was arrested for driving under the influence.

He briefly worked at a nuclear power plant in Ohio in May 2013, but was fired after failing to meet minimum employment requirements, a spokeswoman for Perry Nuclear Power Plant operator FirstEnergy said.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has asked for recommendations on how to boost security for troops and civilians at military installations.

But state governors in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas signed executive orders that would allow US military personnel to carry firearms at recruiting centers.

Such facilities are often located in shopping malls, with no special security measures and recruiting staff inside unarmed.

"After the recent shooting in Chattanooga, it has become clear that our military personnel must have the ability to defend themselves against these type of attacks on our own soil," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.

Republican presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and Scott Walker called for the lifting of a prohibition on military personnel carrying firearms at recruiting venues.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Four Marines killed in US shooting rampage, gunman dead

CHATTANOOGA, United States – A 24-year-old gunman opened fire at two US military centers in Tennessee on Thursday, killing four Marines in a rampage that officials said was being investigated as an act of "domestic terrorism."

The shooter -- identified by the FBI as 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez -- was himself shot dead in a firefight with police. Three people were injured -- a police officer, a Marine Corps recruiter and a Navy sailor.

The incident served as an ugly reminder of other deadly shootings at US military installations, including a 2009 rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and a 2013 attack at the Navy Yard in Washington that left 12 dead.

It also came amid lingering fears about the threat posed by "lone wolf" attackers in the United States, though the motive in Thursday's attacks was not immediately clear.

President Barack Obama called the shootings "heartbreaking" and asked Americans to pray for the relatives of the victims.

"It is incomprehensible to see what happened and the way that individuals who proudly serve our country were treated," Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke said, praising the quick response by law enforcement to prevent further loss of life.

"Today is a nightmare for the city of Chattanooga."

Bill Killian, the US federal prosecutor in that part of Tennessee, said the shootings were being treated as an "act of domestic terrorism."

"We are looking at every possible avenue -- whether it was terrorism, whether it was domestic, international or whether it was a simple criminal act," FBI special agent Ed Reinhold said.

The FBI said later that it was "premature to speculate on the motives of the shooter at this time."

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the FBI would take the lead in the "national security investigation of this heinous attack on members of our military."

'Average Chattanooga family'

Abdulazeez, a Muslim, lived in a leafy suburb of Chattanooga. US media reported that he was a naturalized US citizen born in Kuwait.

He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a degree in engineering.

"Sadly, it appears that the shooter was a 2012 graduate from UTC. Our thoughts are with those affected by today's tragedy," the university said on Twitter

A woman who attended Red Bank High School with Abdulazeez said he was a quiet kid, and well-liked.

"He was friendly, funny, kind," Kagan Wagner told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "I never would have thought it would be him."

"They were your average Chattanooga family," Wagner said.

Scott Schrader, who coached Abdulazeez in mixed martial arts, told CNN he "seemed like the all-American kid."

In an apparent blog post written Monday, he said Muslims should not let "the opportunity to submit to allah... pass you by," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity on social media.

Berke told CNN there had not been "any indication" that an attack was imminent.

Two targets

The Marine Corps confirmed that all four victims were killed at a Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center in the late morning. About 40 minutes earlier, the gunman had opened fire at a recruitment center several miles away.

Berke said officers had described to him a "harrowing and violent scene -- bullets whizzing around them."

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus offered their condolences to the families of the victims, with Mabus calling the attacks "both devastating and senseless."

The Department of Homeland Security said it had ordered security be stepped up at "certain federal facilities, out of an abundance of caution."

'All shook up'

Erica Wright said she witnessed the shooting at the recruiting center through the window of a hair salon two doors down.

"We heard one pop, really loud pop. So we went to the door to see what it was," Wright told CNN. "We saw a guy in a silver Mustang just unloading on the naval recruiting place."

Wright said she watched in horror as the man reloaded his gun and opened fire again. He then backed up his car, pulled up to another part of the recruiting center and started shooting again.

"We're all shook up," she said. "Never expected something like this."

Bullet holes could be seen in the windows of the recruiting center and shell casings littered the parking lot.

Senator Bob Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga, said he was "heartbroken."

"This is a difficult day for Tennesseans and our thoughts and prayers are with all affected by this tragedy," he said in a statement.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com