Apple MacBook Pro saves man from bullet in Florida airport shooting
Steve Frappier, a witness to Friday's deadly shooting at a Fort Lauderdale airport, revealed in an interview with CNN that an Apple MacBook Pro in his backpack took a stray bullet during the harrowing scene, likely saving his life.
On Friday, a gunman identified by authorities as Alaska native Esteban Santiago, 26, pulled a weapon out of his checked bag and opened fire on unsuspecting travelers picking up their luggage at a baggage claim in Fort Lauderdale's airport. The assailant killed five people and wounded eight.
Describing the grisly scene to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Frappier said he, too, was shot in the back while taking cover on the ground. Luckily, he was lying prone, his backpack making an impromptu "tortoise-like" shell. Inside the pack was a MacBook Pro and other miscellaneous items.
As seen in the image above, the bullet from Santiago's gun traveled through an opening in the backpack and apparently hit the laptop's display, continuing through the aluminum unibody chassis, battery and other circuitry before exiting near the side intake vents.
The bullet ultimately came to rest in the backpack's front pocket.
Frappier said he hastily stowed the MacBook Pro before debarking, leaving the backpack flap slightly ajar. Upon inspecting the bag and laptop, law enforcement agents determined the bullet likely passed through the small opening, meaning it was not deflected before coming into contact with the Apple hardware.
It is not yet clear what type of pistol was used in the attack.
According to subsequent reports, Santiago enlisted in the Army National Guard in Puerto Rico in 2007. He served in Iraq for ten months in 2010 and later transferred to the National Guard in Alaska in 2014, where he was stationed as a combat engineer. Santiago was discharged in 2016 for unsatisfactory performance.
On Friday, a gunman identified by authorities as Alaska native Esteban Santiago, 26, pulled a weapon out of his checked bag and opened fire on unsuspecting travelers picking up their luggage at a baggage claim in Fort Lauderdale's airport. The assailant killed five people and wounded eight.
Describing the grisly scene to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Frappier said he, too, was shot in the back while taking cover on the ground. Luckily, he was lying prone, his backpack making an impromptu "tortoise-like" shell. Inside the pack was a MacBook Pro and other miscellaneous items.
As seen in the image above, the bullet from Santiago's gun traveled through an opening in the backpack and apparently hit the laptop's display, continuing through the aluminum unibody chassis, battery and other circuitry before exiting near the side intake vents.
The bullet ultimately came to rest in the backpack's front pocket.
Frappier said he hastily stowed the MacBook Pro before debarking, leaving the backpack flap slightly ajar. Upon inspecting the bag and laptop, law enforcement agents determined the bullet likely passed through the small opening, meaning it was not deflected before coming into contact with the Apple hardware.
It is not yet clear what type of pistol was used in the attack.
According to subsequent reports, Santiago enlisted in the Army National Guard in Puerto Rico in 2007. He served in Iraq for ten months in 2010 and later transferred to the National Guard in Alaska in 2014, where he was stationed as a combat engineer. Santiago was discharged in 2016 for unsatisfactory performance.
Comments
My heart breaks that today was the last day that those 5 others got to enjoy.
An observation: My MBP's disk drive is on the bottom left with the battery from the left-center to the right side so it looks like the disk drive took the majority of the impact, not the battery. It also looks like it entered towards the left top of the MBP, going through all his ports, then hard drive before exiting. It doesn't appear it would have even touched the battery. I'd like to know where he works since that bar-coded label on the back isn't from Apple.
And they said plastic laptop is good.
Didn't Apple once make a case (for a tower, I think, maybe the G3 or G4) that they claimed would stop a bullet?
I don't know if we've heard a motive yet, other than this guy might be angry that he was thrown out of the military, but there are far too many crazy people with guns running around. And also too many crazy people without guns who like to do things like push people onto the NYC subway tracks.
2) To calculate statistical odds we would need to test multiple MBPs with multiple firearms, munitions, and angles to know what can and can't be done. For example, while the 2016 15" MBPs do have smaller batteries—76Whrs v 95Whrs over the 2015 model, if memory serves—the logic board in the 2016 models is smaller so the battery is using more of the area (read: footprint) of the MBP than it did previously. Does this increase the changes of the battery being stopped by the battery or does the thinner battery make a difference for typical munitions that would likely be used (i.e.: non-armor piercing bullets), or is the thinner battery still sufficiently thick enough? Is the battery chemistry denser thus allowing for more storage? How about the stacked layers of battery cells that we first saw In the 2015 MacBook to help maximize the internal space? Then we other, potentially denser elements in these new MBPs that could have better stopping power. For example, does the new display and backlight help? How about the extra structural support from not having a cutout for a plastic, glowing logo? Does the thinner laptop that still maintains the same basic footprint mean that the aluminium casing is thicker to increase its rigidity and/or is a stronger aluminum being used, like what Apple did after BendGate with the iPhone? There are simply too many unknowns that would require testing. We don't even know if the bullet would've been life threatening if hadn't hit the MBP, but the articles are saying that it saved his life. Clickbait at its best, but what else would we expect in today's world.
RIP for the victims and speedy recovery for the injured.
Don't forget the iPhone 6S during the recent shootings in Turkey.
PS: It's weird that you never hear about this from other CE vendors. Maybe I just miss it or maybe it's because of the aluminum casings, over the batteries.
edit: Oops, that Turkey article is from almost a year ago. I can't find the one from just a couple weeks ago.
edit2: Here's a list of other phones that have stopped bullets:
edit3: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/istanbul-attack-nightclub-reina-turkey-bullet-hit-mobile-phone-lives-latest-a7505916.html
Debarking is a canine veterinary procedure.
"Welcome to Mac OS, asshole."
*Pow!*
"Introducing Touch ID, you piece of shit."
*Smack!*
"Hey Siri, eliminate this scumbag."
*Crack!*