WASHINGTON —
The lone suspect in a deadly shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida is reported to be a former National Guard member who was hospitalized for a mental health evaluation last year after hearing voices that urged him to commit acts of violence.
Five people died and eight others were wounded when a silent gunman opened fire Friday, spraying bullets through an area where arriving travelers were claiming their baggage. The airport was thrown into chaos, with crowds of people dashing out past parked airliners and across runways to safety.
Police were not certain whether more than one gunman was involved, so they checked everyone closely before allowing people back into the terminal. Airport operations were shut down for hours, and flights bound for Fort Lauderdale from across the country were grounded in distant cities.
Watch: Multiple People Shot at Fort Lauderdale, Florida Airport
Authorities eventually said there was only one suspect, that there was no evidence of any terrorist involvement in the incident and that no shots were fired by any of the police agencies at the scene. The suspect was detained after he ran out of ammunition and lay down on the floor of the terminal, spread-eagled.
Suspect served in Iraq
Law enforcement officials named the suspect as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, who arrived at the airport in southern Florida on a flight from Alaska, via Minneapolis. Pentagon officials confirmed to VOA that Esteban Santiago was a private first class in the National Guard from 2007 through last August, serving in Puerto Rico and Alaska, and that he also had served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2010-2011.
Other accounts said Santiago was discharged from the National Guard last year for unsatisfactory performance.
People take cover outside Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after a shooter opened fire inside a terminal, Jan. 6, 2017.
The young man is reported to have checked into a hospital in Alaska voluntarily for a mental-health evaluation last year after telling authorities he had been hearing voices in his head, some of them urging him to commit acts of violence.
He also is said to have told federal agents he received messages that the U.S government was ordering him to join the terrorist group Islamic State, but there was no indication he acted on that in any way.
Law-enforcement officials at the scene of the airport shooting said they believed Santiago had traveled with a handgun in a locked case in his checked luggage — a normal practice for licensed owners of weapons. They said he retrieved the luggage after arriving in Florida and loaded the gun in a restroom before walking toward travelers waiting for their bags, where he opened fire.
Joined by law enforcement officials, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (center) speaks during a news conference outside Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, Jan. 6, 2017, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
‘Senseless act of evil’
Florida’s governor, Rick Scott, spoke to reporters several hours after the shooting, which he called “a senseless act of evil,” and asked for prayers for all the victims. President Barack Obama spoke by telephone with Scott, offering his condolences to the victims of the shooting and their families, and also pledged federal authorities’ full assistance in investigating the “horrific” shooting.
Scott said he called President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence about the shooting and was assured they would “do everything in their power” to provide whatever assistance is needed.
Obama told ABC News Friday he was “heartbroken” by the shooting, and added: “These kinds of tragedies have happened too often during the years that I’ve been president. … The pain, the grief, the shock that they [victims and witnesses] must be going through is enormous.”
VOA’s Pentagon reporter Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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