The bags.
The overstuffed suitcases, the carry-ons, the golf clubs, the laptops, the budget luggage, the Louis Vuitton's … Perhaps the starkest reminder of Friday's tragic shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are the bags.
Some left on planes.
Some still in the bowels of the airport's baggage collection system.
Some still on carousels.
Some strewn about Terminal 2, left unattended in the mad rush to escape gunman Esteban Santiago.
How many?
A day later, sadness, security concerns and the logistics of getting the airport back to normal are the prevalent concerns for officials after a tragic afternoon.
FLL officials said the airport was at about 80 percent capacity, with Terminals 1, 3 and 4 fully operational but only the ticket counter at Terminal 2 open. They expect the facility to be 100 percent operational on Sunday.
Broward County law enforcement and the FBI revised its totals to five dead and six injured after initially saying eight - and as many as 13 - were hurt.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Multiple People Reportedly Dead in Shooting at Fort Lauderdale Airport[/READMORE]
The shooter, Santiago, traveled on Delta Air Lines from Anchorage to Minnesota to Fort Lauderdale. George Piro, the FBI's special agent in charge in Miami, told reporters Saturday morning that Santiago "came here specifically to carry out this horrific attack. We have not identified any triggers that would have caused this attack."
FLL shut down the airport, leaving 309 flights canceled, according to FlightAware, and more than 10,000 travelers whose trips were interrupted.
Santiago allegedly checked his weapon in his luggage, retrieved his bag at baggage claim, took the luggage into a bathroom to get the gun and load it with ammunition, and came out firing.
No doubt, it will spark controversy and debate because transporting a fireman on an aircraft is absolutely legal. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), "You may transport unloaded firearms in a locked hard-sided container as checked baggage only. Declare the firearm and/or ammunition to the airline when checking your bag at the ticket counter. The container must completely secure the firearm from being accessed. Locked cases that can be easily opened are not permitted. Be aware that the container the firearm was in when purchased may not adequately secure the firearm when it is transported in checked baggage. …. Ammunition is prohibited in carry-on baggage, but may be transported in checked baggage."
The nature of the attack also exposed another flaw in airport security - the baggage claim area and the outside perimeter, which is open to the public as they descend on the arrivals level to pick up family, friends and loved ones.
Jeffrey Price, an airport security expert, told NPR that airport security was overlooked in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks when the focus on the airlines.
"I definitely think it's time for the airport side of the house to have really sort of the renovation that the airline side of the house had post-9/11. Post-9/11 we really focused more on protecting the aircraft, which has been the traditional target with the stand-up of the TSA, screening checkpoints being taken over by the TSA, personnel upgrading of all of that equipment. We did a tremendous amount to try and protect the aircraft even more," he said. "What was sort of left behind with all of that was protecting the airport. With the exception of increasing some credentialing requirements for airport ID badges, there wasn't much that spoke to the security of the rest of the facility. I'm not advocating screening everybody as they come in the building. I don't think that would be effective. And that has its own challenges. But there are other things that the industry can and should be doing to protect the public areas of the airport."
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