At around 1 PM on January 6, 2017, multiple shots were fired inside of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, hitting many in the large crowds of returning vacationers. In just thirty-four seconds, the alleged shooter had killed five people and injured eight more. The panic of the shooting resulted in citizens being evacuated onto the tarmac outside of Terminal 2, the confirmed location of the shooting.

26 year old Esteban Santiago, former US Army reservist, brought a nine millimeter handgun and ammunition in his checked luggage with him from Alaska to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in a legal way. Around forty-five minutes after Santiago arrived and shortly after picking up his luggage, he opened fire, killing five. The injured victims of the attack are being released from local hospitals, but four still remain as of Tuesday, two of which are in critical condition according to the Palm Beach Post.

“It was sickening to hear about,” senior Eston Iman said. “A bunch of innocent people died and it was completely preventable.”

Santiago, who was apprehended by police immediately following the shooting, may be charged with the death penalty. His trial began on Monday morning with his detention hearing scheduled for January 17 and his arraignment hearing on January 23 according to ABC reports.

“I think he deserves the death penalty,” junior Kristian Huber said. “What he did was inhumane and he should be penalized to the fullest extent.”
Although ISIS has not claimed responsibility and holds few ties to the incident, there are suspicions that the group was involved. New reports were released of Santiago contacting the FBI in November, saying that the CIA prompted him to join the terrorist group. While the shooting is not yet directly related withISIS, it can be reasonably inferred after the flurry of attacks in the past year that this level of heightened violence will continue.