FORT LAUDERDALE – Eight years ago Monday, chaos erupted at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when a gunman opened fire in Terminal 2’s baggage claim area, killing five people and injuring six others.
Among those caught in the attack was Annika Dean, who came within steps of the shooter, Esteban Santiago-Ruiz.
“I heard gunfire, and I looked and saw a man shooting,” Dean recalled. “I looked for an escape, and unfortunately for me, there was no escape, and I just dropped to the ground.”
Moments later, a stranger’s act of bravery may have saved her life.
“A man shielded me, a 70-year-old electrician from Rochester, New York, placed his body over me and said he would protect me,” she said.
Dean survived, but the experience left her deeply shaken.
“It wasn’t until that evening when I went to the store to get some things, and I heard a palette drop in the store. Then that was the first of, you know, what I realized is PTSD-that I have sensitivity to really loud sounds,” she said.