The former soldier who unleashed death with a shooting rampage inside a Florida airport baggage claim area flew to Fort Lauderdale fully intending to spread carnage among innocent people, the feds said.
Esteban Santiago, 26, “came here specifically to carry out this horrific attack,” said Special Agent George Piro of the Miami Federal Bureau of Investigation.
There is no indication that Santiago’s murderous run through the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was set off by any kind of altercation with anyone else, Piro added.
“We have not identified any triggers that would have caused this attack,” he said.
Santiago was charged with murder Saturday after allegedly killing five people and wounding six with a gun he pulled out of his checked luggage after flying into the Sunshine State from Alaska.
Police are investigating whether Santiago was a homegrown terrorist, or mentally disturbed. The US Army veteran had walked into a Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Alaska a month ago, claiming voices in his head urged him to join ISIS.
His family says the FBI could have stopped the slaughter.
“The FBI failed there. … We’re not talking about someone who emerged from anonymity to do something like this,” Bryan Santiago told The Associated Press Saturday.
“The federal government already knew about this for months, they had been evaluating him for a while, but they didn’t do anything,” he said from his Puerto Rican home.
Bryan Santiago said his brother had sought psychological help but barely received any.
“I told him to go to church or to seek professional help,” he said.
Born in New Jersey, Esteban Santiago moved to Puerto Rico at age 2, and grew up there. He joined the Puerto Rico branch of National Guard in 2007 and served two tours in Iraq. His time oversees changed him, Santiago’s family said.
Santiago also served in the Alaska National Guard but was eventually discharged for “unsatisfactory performance,” after going absent without leave several times, officials said.
Santiago fathered a baby boy in September 2016, media reports said.
In January 2016, he was arrested in Anchorage, AK on charges of attacking his girlfriend.
Santiago flew from Anchorage to Minneapolis-St. Paul and connected to Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
In Fort Lauderdale, he picked up his checked baggage at a carousel. Then he took a legally-checked gun out of his bag, dashed into a bathroom to change his shirt, and came out shooting.
Santiago appeared to pick his targets at random, executing his victims with bullets to their heads. He reloaded twice as terrified travelers fled for their lives, witnesses said.
When he finished, Santiago simply laid down on the ground, police said. He was taken into custody without incident.
The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport reopened for commercial flights at 5 a.m., despite many canceled or delayed flights.
Terminal 2, where Santiago went on his shooting spree, remained closed.
Airport officials are also trying to find the owners of more than 20,000 bags and personal items left behind in the chaos.
“My heart goes out to everyone who was displaced yesterday,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott told local media.
“I just think about this — I’m a dad, I’m a grand dad. I just can’t imagine this happening to my family or any family. But the state stands ready to assist anyone.”
Scott also spoke about the need to provide good care for mentally ill people and help to their families. Mental illness is “a very difficult situation to deal with.
With Post Wire Services