© 2024 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Broward Commissioners Hold Closed Meeting On Airport Security

Armed police officers descended on Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a shooting on Friday, Jan 6, 2017.
David Santiago
/
El Nuevo Herald
Armed police officers descended on Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a shooting on Friday, Jan 6, 2017.

Days after a gunman killed five people at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Broward County commissioners held a closed-door meeting Tuesday to talk about airport security.

Florida law allows local governments to close meetings about security at facilities owned or leased by the state or county.

Broward County Attorney Joni Armstrong Coffey told the Miami Herald that only county officials and employees would attend, and that -- per state statute -- no record of the meeting would be made.

"The statute exempts these meetings entirely from the open meetings requirements," she told the Herald in an email. "That is because security sensitive information is confidential and prohibited from disclosure."

A 26-year-old Army veteran from Alaska is accused in the shooting, which also injured six people. Esteban Santiago made his initial court appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale. Authorities say Santiago specifically targeted the Fort Lauderdale airport, but they are still investigating the motive for the crime. Santiago underwent a mental health evaluation in November after he walked into the Anchorage FBI office and told authorities he was hearing voices.

Copyright 2020 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit .

Kate Stein can't quite explain what attracts her to South Florida. It's more than just the warm weather (although this Wisconsin native and Northwestern University graduate definitely appreciates the South Florida sunshine). It has a lot to do with being able to travel from the Everglades to Little Havana to Brickell without turning off 8th Street. It's also related to Stein's fantastic coworkers, whom she first got to know during a winter 2016 internship.Officially, Stein is WLRN's environment, data and transportation journalist. Privately, she uses her job as an excuse to rove around South Florida searching for stories à la Carl Hiaasen and Edna Buchanan. Regardless, Stein speaks Spanish and is always thrilled to run, explore and read.