Iraq war veteran named as Ft. Lauderdale airport shooter

Esteban Santiago, a 26-year-old Iraq war veteran who was taken into custody following yesterday’s shooting, is expected to face federal charges over the incident and will appear in court on Monday.

Santiago was questioned at length by the FBI who have said that the suspect had showed up at an FBI office behaving erratically, some months-ago. According to an official quoted by AP news agency, Santiago had told FBI agents that the US government was controlling his mind and making him watch jihadist videos.

Speaking to the press following the incident, special agent George Piro, who is in charge of the FBI’s office in Miami, said that the authorities were not ruling out terrorism as a possible motive and were reviewing Santiago’s recent travels.

"We are looking at all avenues. We have not ruled out terrorism and we will be pursuing every angle to try to determine the motive behind this attack," Piro told journalists.

According to authorities, Santiago had arrived in Ft. Lauderdale shortly before 7.00pm (CET) on a flight from Alaska. He then retrieved a 9mm semi-automatic handgun from his checked in luggage and began firing at a crowd of people waiting to retrieve their luggage from baggage reclaim, killing five and leaving eight people wounded. He surrendered to police when he ran out of ammunition, witnesses said.

Santiago served from 2007 to 2016 in the Puerto Rico National Guard and Alaska National Guard including a deployment to Iraq from 2010 to 2011, according to the Pentagon.

A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama had spoken to Scott and Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief and had extended his condolences to the loved ones of the victims. In a press conference following the shooting Florida governor Rick Scott said that he had reached out to president-elect Donald Trump and vice president-elect Mike Pence. 

President-elect Trump on his part tweeted: “Monitoring the terrible situation in Florida. Just spoke to Governor Scott. Thoughts and prayers for all. Stay safe!”