Leaders Discuss Gun Travel Changes In Wake Of Airport Shooting
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
SUNRISE (CBSMiami) -- Nearly three months after a gunman wreaked murder and mayhem at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, a task force gathered in Broward in to learn how the carnage was allowed to happen and how to avoid it happening again.
On January 6th, Esteban Santiago retrieved his checked handgun and opened fire in the airport's baggage claim, killing six people and wounding six others before being captured 78 seconds later.
In Sunrise on Friday, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz hosted a second brain trust session of airport, FBI, BSO and TSA reps, analyzing the FLL massacre and ways to prevent it.
A disturbed Santiago told the FBI in Alaska weeks before the shooting that voices were telling him to join ISIS. But after a cursory mental evaluation, he was let go and there was no follow-up.
"One of the things that needs to be looked at is the mental health process," said Wasserman Schultz.
The shooting induced mass panic and a chaotic evacuation. The airport has commissioned a study to learn, among other things, how the aftermath could have been better controlled.
"That report is going to be an extremely in-depth, comprehensive, objective look at everything that happened at the airport that day," said FLL Airport Dir. Mark Gale.
And then there's the matter of Santiago's one-way ticket to south Florida -- a single bag containing only his declared gun and ammo.
Should the rules be changed?
"All policies are under review and we'll continue to work with our partners, both at the airport and as well as law enforcement, to make sure that the traveling public is safe," said TSA Regional Dir. Barbara Schukraft.
At the end of the day, they could only offer broad generalities on possible revisions to how guns should be allowed to travel.
Delta Air Lines, the airline Santiago flew on, isn't waiting for the TSA to make changes. Published reports say they will require checked firearms to be claimed at a secure location, not the baggage carousel.