FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - The Broward Sheriff’s Office is admitting it made major mistakes after January’s deadly shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
According to a report from the BSO, there was a lack of unified command structure in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 incident.
Surveillance video showed Esteban Santiago unloading his firearm inside the baggage claim area in Terminal 2, killing five people and injuring six others. 7News cameras and cellphone video captured terrified travelers running from the terminal.
The report states that first responders acted immediately, and Santiago was taken down in a little under a minute, reducing the amount of casualties. This quick response, along with the immediate storm of law enforcement officers on the scene, was a strength.
However, there were many weaknesses, and according to the report, “Mistakes were made.”
The report states one of the biggest issues was BSO’s 30-year-old radio transmitting system. Several thousand personnel turned on their radios, which caused radio transmissions to go into “failsoft.” This “cut or interfered with all radio communications.”
Because communication was so bad, the report states, a false report went out about a second shooter.
The airport’s fire alarm was activated, which opened all concourse doors. A flood of people ran to the tarmac seconds later.
“They had all of us go out of the exit, people trampling each other,” said one passenger at the time.
Panicked passengers were seen running back into Terminal 2, the initial crime scene, tainting that area. Secure areas, the report states, were no longer secure.
Undercover officers and air marshals began running through the terminal with ski masks, some in plain clothes, showing their weapons, adding to the hysteria.
According to the report, BSO never trained for a full airport shutdown, full evacuation and mass care.
One of the biggest issues in the aftermath of the shooting was that people were stuck on the tarmac or inside planes without food or water, in some cases for more than 10 hours. Many injured people were stuck outdoors as well.
Planes were also allowed to take off, before authorities were certain it was not a terrorist act. If that had been the case, the report states, “This could have resulted in a catastrophic loss of life.”
The report concludes by stating BSO needs to improve their response to avoid such tragedies in the future.
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