Minneapolis, Minnesota — A couple with ties to northwest Iowa were at the Ft. Lauderdale airport on Friday when a man with a gun opened fire in the airport’s baggage claim area.
Lisa Baartman says she and her husband Kevin are originally from northwest Iowa, and moved to the Minneapolis metro area over 30 years ago. She says she graduated from Sheldon High School in 1980 and Kevin graduated from Boyden-Hull in 1979.
She says as she understands it, the baggage claim area where the shooting took place was just under the gate at which they boarded their plane.
Baartman tells us about her experience.
You would think that’s where the harrowing experience ended, but she says that was not the case.
Again, you’d think the experience was over but she says after that they bussed the passengers to a convention center. She says it was quite the sight with abandoned cars and emergency vehicles all over. She says they found a hotel online and took an Uber to the hotel, but they only had their carry-ons and didn’t get their luggage until Sunday night.
Baartman tells us how she felt during the experience.
Twenty-six-year-old military veteran Esteban Santiago has confessed to the airport shootings, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Florida. He appeared in federal court on Monday on charges that could bring him the death penalty.
In previous encounters, Santiago had told authorities he believed his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency and he believed he was being influenced by ISIS.
