Philadelphia Airport Authorities On High Alert Following Deadly Fort Lauderdale Shooting
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Authorities at the Philadelphia International Airport are on high alert following Friday's deadly shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
CBS 3's David Spunt reports that many passengers said this shooting may need to prompt a change in baggage claim security procedures.
Diana Branch was getting on her flight to Philadelphia at the time of the shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport. She said there were no announcements on the flight, but people quickly began to find out what happened.
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"My sister-in-law called me and said, 'Did you see what happened?' and I said, 'No,'" Branch said.
Branch continued, "It was really upsetting and I was hyperventilating all through the trip."
Authorities say the gunman, identified by CBS News as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, checked a gun and ammunition in his bag, picked it up after a flight, went into the bathroom, loaded the gun, and started firing randomly at people waiting for their luggage.
"There is no security in the baggage claim unfortunately, and you never know what's going to happen," said Bob Arenstein, who was traveling from Fort Lauderdale. "So they are going to probably have to change the method of baggage claims at this point because people can come in and start shooting."
There are roaming security guards but no metal detectors.
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Passengers want answers as to why a man can pack a gun and bullets and then be able to load the gun and open fire.
"It's horrible what kind of world I am living in today and what kind of world I am leaving my children," said Freddi Goldstein, who was also traveling from Fort Lauderdale. It frightens me a lot."
The Fort Lauderdale airport is closed and will be for an extended period of time.
Philadelphia airport officials are asking passengers to check with their airlines directly if they have a flight to Fort Lauderdale.
