A gunman opened fire in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. According to the Broward County Sheriff's office, at least six people have been shot with multiple deaths. The lone shooter is in custody, but has not yet been identified.
It is only natural to wonder if this was an Islamic terrorist attack. Given that the attack occurred in public place with a large number of people gathered one cannot discount the possibility. When I heard about the attack, the first thing that sprang to mind was last April's attack at the airport in Brussels (although that incident involved explosives). If we go back several decades there were the simultaneous attacks by Palestinian terrorists at the Rome & Vienna airports.
Of course, it is possible it isn't a terrorist attack. Could have been a guy angry at his family who wanted to kill them and anybody else who stood in the way. Whatever the circumstances, before the dead have been buried, we are bound to be subject to a lecture by President Obama for more gun control to be followed by another lecture by President-Elect Trump about the need to ban Muslim immigration to this country.
If it is an act of Islamic terrorism, it will be the second time in just over six months that it has hit Florida. It was last June when the Orlando nightclub shooting took place.
If it is an act of Islamic terrorism, it will also be further evidence life in the U.S. and the West is becoming more and more like life in Israel with attacks occurring on what seem like a daily basis.
UPDATE 3:25 p.m.: As of this writing, five people are dead. According to Florida's Democrat Senator Bill Nelson, the shooter is Esteban Santiago, a 26-year old New Jersey man with military ID. It isn't clear whether Santiago is active military. At this point, there is no indication that Esteban converted to Islam.
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