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Florida Airport Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Esteban Santiago is taken from the Broward County main jail as he is transported to the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, Jan. 9, 2017. Santiago is accused of fatally shooting several people at a crowded Florida airport baggage claim and faces airport violence and firearms charges that could mean the death penalty if he's convicted. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
Esteban Santiago is taken from the Broward County main jail as he is transported to the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, Jan. 9, 2017. Santiago is accused of fatally shooting several people at a crowded Florida airport baggage claim and faces airport violence and firearms charges that could mean the death penalty if he's convicted. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

The suspect in the Florida airport shooting spree in which five people were killed and six were wounded has pleaded not guilty.

During an arraignment Monday, 26-year-old Esteban Santiago told the judge he understood each of the charges in the 22-count federal indictment. He's accused in the Jan. 6 shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

He's charged with causing death or bodily harm at an international airport, causing death during a crime of violence and using a firearm during a crime of violence. Santiago could face the death penalty if convicted.

The FBI says Santiago flew from Anchorage, Alaska, to Fort Lauderdale with a handgun in a case in checked luggage. Authorities say he loaded the gun in a bathroom and came out firing in a baggage claim area.

The Associated Press is a wire service to which WUFT News subscribes.