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Safe After Shooting

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Two local families were at Fort Lauderdale
airport when a gunman opened fi re.

ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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January 12 • 2017

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hey had just enjoyed a much-anticipated cruise to the
Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Staci
and Fabio Giske of Farmington Hills were making their way
home with their three children, Ari, 11, Eitan, 10, and Talya, 8. They
were traveling with good friends, Gina and Yuksel Erpardo, also of
Farmington Hills, and their children, Jimmy, 10, and Deniz, 5, when
the relaxing family vacation took an unexpected and terrifying turn.
A gunman opened fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport Jan. 6, killing five people. The Giskes and Erpardos were
caught up in the chaos as police and federal agents worked to catch
the shooting suspect.
“We were sitting at the gate and suddenly there was a lot of com-
motion,” Staci says. “People were running and screaming for everyone
to get down. Fabio grabbed Talya,
I jumped on top of Eitan, and
Ari ran under a chair. The TSA
started screaming, ‘Run, run, run!
There’s a shooter!’ and everybody
ran.”
The Giskes dropped all their
luggage and personal belongings
and headed down the jetway out
onto the tarmac. (They lost every-
thing along the way.) At some
point, they were ushered back
inside only to be caught up in
another stampede during a false
alarm when someone shouted
ABOVE: The Giske family: Staci and Fabio, with
something about a second
children, Eitan, 10, Ari, 11, and Talya, 8.
shooter. This time, the family got
separated. The children ran in dif-
ferent directions, and Staci and Fabio scrambled to locate everyone
and bring the family back together.
“It was very scary,” Staci says. “There were purses, luggage, shoes,
teddy bears, all kinds of items scattered all over the tarmac. It looked
like a war zone.”
Thankfully, the couple located their children and their friends and
attempted to keep everyone together through several more panicked
stampedes. Eventually, they all ended up in a hangar where they wait-
ed hours for information and transportation off the airport grounds.
Authorities have arrested a suspect, identified as Esteban Santiago,
26, of Alaska. He faces a host of federal charges that carry the pos-
sibility of the death penalty. It has been reported that at one point
authorities took his gun away and ordered a mental health evalua-
tion, but the gun was later returned. That same gun, used in the air-
port shooting, was in his checked luggage.
“There’s no need to have guns,” Staci said. “I’m an attorney, I believe
in the Constitution; but in our current, modern society, I don’t think
this is what our founding fathers intended. Anybody can get a gun.
You can’t bring 4 ounces of breast milk past security, but you can
check a gun.
“This has given us a whole new appreciation for the IDF and the
people of Israel,” she continued. “They live with this kind of fear and
terror every day.”
At press time, both families were safe and en route back home.
They communicated with friends and loved ones by posting mes-
sages on Facebook.
“We are exhausted — emotionally, mentally and physically,” Staci
wrote. “We are working on keeping our kids calm.” •

