Weapons & Guns

1:07 PM PT -- Soulja pled not guilty and will be back in court next month.

Soulja Boy is now facing a felony for the guns police found in his house during his December arrest ... TMZ has learned.

The L.A. County D.A. just slapped him with 2 felonies -- possession of an assault weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was also charged with a misdemeanor for receiving stolen property ... cops say one of the guns in Soulja's house was reportedly stolen from a cop car.

The assault weapon charge is for a Mini Draco AR-15 ... which is illegal for anyone to possess in California.

Liam Payne dodged a bullet this weekend when shots rang out at a club popular among celebs.

Liam was at The Peppermint Club in WeHo Saturday night when a guy showed up and tried to get in with a fake ID. He got into it with security, made his way to the parking lot and fired shots in the air just outside the club. The guy escaped and is still on the loose.

We're told clubgoers inside heard the shots and freaked out. They stayed put and began tweeting like crazy. One woman tweeted, "Shooting @ the peppermint club. I'm f***ing shaking right now."

Cops found multiple shell casings when they arrived. As for Liam, we're told he left about half an hour after the shots rang out. Probably not his best night ever.

A man cops say was armed with a hatchet during a wild L.A. car chase was shot dead, and it's all caught on video.

The chase went down Wednesday afternoon near LAX. You see the suspect at the end of the chase, surrounded by cops, climbing out the driver's side window. Then, suddenly, multiple shots ring out -- more than a half dozen. The suspect died on the spot.

The Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooter walked casually through baggage claim before suddenly pulling his gun out and wreaking havoc.

TMZ has obtained video of the shooting ... we are only showing the seconds leading up to the first shots fired and the panic that ensued.

You see the shooter, 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, with a 9 mm handgun tucked inside his waistband, and then pulling it out and beginning to shoot.

5 people were killed.

A witness at the Ft. Lauderdale airport tells TMZ the shooter appeared to be a white man who used a handgun.

We spoke with Chenet Nerette who says he was in baggage claim at Terminal 2 when the shots rang out.

He says he ran for his life -- but says he got a look at the shooter who appeared to be a white man.

Chenet says the man took a knee right before he opened fire -- seemingly to brace himself before the massacre.

As for the gun, Chenet says it was NOT a big gun -- he believes the shooter used a handgun.

After the shooting ... Chenet pulled out his camera and shot footage of the aftermath. (See Below)

12:04 PM PT -- The gunman's been ID'd as 26-year-old U.S. born Esteban Santiago of New Jersey, according to law enforcement. Santiago had military ID on him.

Ft. Lauderdale Airport is on lockdown after a gunman opened fire in the baggage claim area ... reportedly killing at least 5 people.

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was in the airport as the chaos erupted and tweeted, "Everyone is running."

According to multiple reports ... at least 9 people were injured and the lone gunman has been captured by police.

Hundreds of travelers are still out on the tarmac as police try to make sure there's no additional threat.

Story developing ...

University of Alabama defensive lineman Dakota Ball won't be playing in the Peach Bowl on Saturday ... because he's recovering from SHOOTING OFF HIS FINGER with a shotgun.

Ball -- whose left hand was wrapped up at a Peace Bowl Media Day event on Thursday -- explained the accident occurred 2 weeks ago during a hunting trip with a friend.

"I shot my finger off with a 12-gauge shotgun," Ball told AL.com.

"I was tying a rope around the barrel and around the stock to keep the shotgun from falling out of my lap ... I was tying rope around the barrel and it just went off. I didn't have my hand on the trigger."

"I shot it right at the knuckle and blew it off."

Ball was hospitalized and released the next day.

The story comes in the wake of Philadelphia Eagles star QB Carson Wentz getting shotguns for his offensive linemen.

It looks like all of Soulja Boy's gun-toting has finally caught up to him -- he was just arrested after someone snitched on the rapper for threatening people online.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they paid a visit to Soulja's Hollywood Hills home Thursday on a Crime Stoppers tip that Soulja had been threatening people online with guns. Cops showed up, searched his house and we're told they found a gun inside ... so Soulja was arrested.

You'll recall ... Soulja's on probation right now for his loaded gun case from a couple years ago ... and he's not allowed to have any weapons on him.

As we reported ... Soulja's made numerous threats to people on social media lately.

"Flip or Flop" stars Tarek and Christina El Moussa portray the chipper, nearly perfect all-American couple on TV but we've learned they're now separated ...after a scary incident involving guns and a feared suicide attempt.

Their ordeal started, at least publicly, in May when deputies responded to "a call of a possibly suicidal male with a gun" at the couple's Orange County home. According to law enforcement, a massive presence showed up -- 11 deputies and a helicopter.

Witnesses told cops they saw Tarek grab a gun from his safe, run out the back door and flee down a hiking trail. Shortly after, Christina was seen running out of the house crying and shaking.

Within minutes, the helicopter spotted Tarek on a trail and deputies told him to drop his weapon. Tarek complied and told deputies he had no intention of hurting himself. He said he wanted to "blow off some steam," and only brought the gun for mountain lions and rattlesnakes.

Deputies went back to the house and ended up seizing 5 guns, including an AR-15.

Christina and Tarek tell us they decided to separate while they reevaluate their marriage. As far as the incident goes ... they'll only say it was an "unfortunate misunderstanding."

They add ... they're committed to co-parenting, and ... "will continue to work through this process civilly and cooperatively, and plan to continue our professional life together."

Ray Allen's still shootin' ... but he traded out the rock for an M-240B machine gun!!

The NBA legend has been hitting up U.S. military sites around the world as part of a USO tour -- a tour that included hanging out the side of a helicopter flying over Afghanistan!!!

The video is incredible -- you can see Ray rockin' a sweet pair of Jordans as they fly over the Hindu Kush mountains.

Allen noted, "There were two men on both sides of the Helo up front manning the guns and the two in the back were keeping an eye out just in case someone fired a missile at us."

Yeah.

By the way, Allen also teamed up with Hollywood superstars on the tour including Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans.

The man who shot and killed ex-NFL running back Joe McKnight in an apparent road rage incident has been arrested for manslaughter ... this according to police records.

The man who killed Joe McKnight got out of his car and pointed his weapon at a Navy officer who rushed to the scene to try to help ... cops say.

Sheriff Newell Normand says they interviewed Ronald Gasser for more than 10 hours and spoke with more than 160 witnesses in the case.

They believe after Gasser shot McKnight following a verbal altercation -- he got out of the car to see McKnight's body ... and was approached by a military officer.

The Naval officer told Gasser to put his gun away because it was not in his best interest to shoot a Naval officer.

The Naval officer and cops then tried to help McKnight -- but it was too late.

Sheriff Normand says Gasser has insisted he was fearing for his life -- and that's why he pulled his weapon during the altercation.

WWE legend Steve Austin can easily dismantle a bad guy with a well-placed Stone Cold Stunner -- but that didn't stop him from working out his trigger finger at the gun range ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Stone Cold recently stopped by Taran Tactical Innovations in Simi Valley, CA to throw some lead down on their tactical range with a Sig Sauer MPX 9mm. In layman's terms: one badass rifle.

Check him out as he opens a can of whoop-ass ... just don't throw him a beer.

TMZ Sports has obtained a photo of Ronald Gasser moments after he shot Joe McKnight ... and the witness who took the photo says he WAS yelling at McKnight's body after the fatal shots were fired.

Ronald Gasser did NOT stand over Joe McKnight's body and fire shots while screaming, "I told you not to f**k with me" ... so says Sheriff Normand of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Dept.

The man who shot Joe McKnight has been released from custody and no charges have been filed yet ... this according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Dept.

We spoke with a rep who tells us 54-year-old Ronald Gasser -- a white male -- was questioned and released "sometime overnight" after officials believed they had no reason to hold him any longer.

The Sheriff's Dept. tells us ... Gasser "definitely" shot the ex-NFL running back -- but there are "questions about the circumstances surrounding what led up to it."

The rep tells us the investigation is still very much open and the case could go to the grand jury or the district attorney, which will decide whether or not charges should be filed.