Before Esteban Santiago unpacked a gun from his checked baggage at the Fort Lauderdale airport, filled it with ammo, and then gunned down dozens of innocent people in January, no one from Delta Airlines, the airport, or the Broward Sheriff’s Office found his behavior suspicious enough to stop him. That’s a basic failure of duty, says the family of Olga Woltering, an 84-year-old killed in the mass shooting.
“He’s a male between 20 and 40 traveling alone… leaving Alaska in the winter and not bringing any change of clothes. The only thing he checks in is a gun,” David Di Pieto, a lawyer representing Woltering’s family, tells New Times. “These are basic red flags. He should have at least been questioned upon arrival or escorted out of the airport with the firearm.”