Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting: Suspect in Killing Of 5 People Had Visited FBI

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — An Iraq war veteran who had claimed two months ago to the FBI that he was being forced to watch Islamic State videos "indiscriminately" opened fire Friday afternoon at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport, killing five people, wounding at least eight others and sending scores scrambling in terminals and evacuating to tarmacs. The suspect was taken into custody unharmed, police said.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified the suspect shortly before 10 p.m. as Eseteban Santiago of Anchorage.

Airport officials said they planned to reopen the airport at 5 a.m. on Saturday but suggested that passengers confirm their flights before coming to the airport.

The 26-year-old Santiago, a native of New Jersey, was interviewed following the incident by FBI agents and Broward County Sheriff's detectives in an undisclosed area of the airport. He was placed into federal custody.

George L. Piro, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami Field Office, said Santiago will be charged federally and most likely make his initial appearance in a Broward courtroom on Monday.

He acknowledged that Santiago walked into the FBI's office in Anchorage in November and demonstrated behavior "erratic" enough that local police were called and took him to a medical hospital for a mental health evaluation.

"He came in and spoke with FBI agents. At that time he clearly stated that he did not intend to harm anyone, however, his erratic behavior concerned FBI agents that were interviewing him and they contacted local police and turned him over to local police," according to Piro, who said the agency closed its investigation after performing an inter-agency check on Santiago.

Officials said Santiago traveled Friday from Alaska to Minneapolis before landing in Fort Lauderdale on a Delta flight, retrieved a semi-automatic handgun from his checked baggage and began firing in what Israel described as a "cowardly, heinous act."

More than an hour after the shooting, heavily armed officers were searching a parking garage at the airport, and passengers who had been standing outdoors on tarmacs were seen running from their holding spot, but Israel told reporters around 3:30 p.m. there was no second active shooter.

In addition to the shooting victims, Israel said many other people also were taken to area hospitals. "There were at least 30 to 40 more people who went to hospitals for various injuries, falling, contusions, broken bones, strains, sprains and things of that nature," he said.

The first reports of shots fired in the airport came in around 12:55 p.m.

Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said in a Facebook post that the gunman retrieved his bag from the baggage area and went to a bathroom to load the gun.

The shooter came out of the bathroom, LaMarca said, and opened fire.

TSA allows for firearms to be transported in checked baggage in a "locked hard-sided container."

Speaking to reporters, Dr. Ralph Guarneri, a trauma surgeon at Broward Health Medical Center described the scene at the Level 1 trauma center immediately after the shooting as "chaos, but it's controlled."

"No one who arrived at the hospital has expired. They're all in the hospital doing as best as they can do right now," he said. "But everybody is stable," he said, noting that the facility received five of the eight victims as trauma cases.

Shortly after 7 p.m. the Broward Sheriff's Office said that passengers with vehicles were being allowed to leave the airport grounds and that those without transportation were going to be bused to nearby Port Everglades Terminal 4, which is a busy port for cruise ships.

Appearing on CNN shortly after 8 p.m., Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief said that officials were attempting to move passengers out of the airport. Some had been aboard more than 20 planes on the tarmac when the shooting began and others were passengers on another 10 planes or so that were at gates when the airport was placed on lockdown.

One passenger described how close he came to being shot.

"The backpack saved my life," explained Steve Frappier, whose laptop tucked inside the bag caught a ricocheted bullet as he lay crouched in a tortoise position.

"I felt something hit my back," he told CNN, thinking it was luggage. "It was only later when I go to the bathroom to check myself out that the bullet had entered my backpack, hit my laptop. And then later when I gave my bag over to the FBI for investigation they found the bullet in the pocket of my backpack."

Mark Lea, a witness to the shooting, told MSNBC he was in the baggage claim when the gunman began firing a 9mm pistol.

“I heard what sounded like firecrackers going off in a quick, three-round burst," Lea said. "We ultimately realized someone was shooting from there. People started screaming and trying to get out in any door they could."

Lea said the man was “quiet the whole time. He didn’t yell anything"

John Schlicher, another witness, told MSNBC the shooter was just "shooting random people."

"He shot people on either side of me," Schlicher said. "He wasn’t targeting anyone specifically."

Lea said the shooter only stopped firing after he had gone through three magazines, apparently running out of ammunition.

The gunman was taken into custody unharmed, and law enforcement did not fire any shots, Israel, the Broward County sheriff, told reporters.

"I was told it was approximately 30 to 40 seconds when our deputies heard the gunshots," Israel said. "Then they turned. They encountered the suspect. The suspect dropped his weapon. The suspect was taken into custody without incident. There were no shots fired by Broward Sheriff’s deputies, and the subject is at an undisclosed place at the airport right now being interviewed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.”

Israel added, "We have no reason to believe that there was any type of conspiracy."

“We’re going to leave no stone unturned," he said, "and we’re going to clear the entire airport and make sure it’s safe for citizens and residents to come back and forth and to reopen the airport.”

The sheriff said that based on the available information he does not believe the suspect is a member of ISIL but may have followed the group online and may have been influenced by their doctrine. That is a far different image than Santiago's military service would suggest, having earned 11 awards including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

"If I had to give a hypothesis based on the knowledge I have at this time, it would be a home-grown violent extremist," Israel said. "I believe that once we sift through some of the information that our detectives are looking at right now that the FBI will be taking the lead on this investigation, and we’ll be assisting the FBI in the investigation in the aftermath.”

Social media photos and video from inside the airport showed people ducking under chairs at the gates and behind luggage at the baggage claim.

Outside of the airport, law enforcement officials, including FBI and local police, patrolled tarmacs and parking garages wearing heavy body armor and carrying assault rifles. Crowds of evacuated passengers stood outside, many on cell phones making calls and taking pictures of the scene.

About an hour and a half after the shots were fired, panic ensued again.

Tactical police were seen running through the tarmac, guns drawn, into a parking garage. An officer yelled, "Get down! Get down!" Reuters reported, and panicked passengers on the tarmac scattered.

Later, about 100 people reportedly started running from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2, and police were trying to calm them, according to a television reporter on the scene.

Despite the commotion, Israel said there were no additional shots fired but local television stations said that police detonated a bag that the suspect reportedly dropped.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor John P. "Jack" Seiler released a statement condemning Friday’s “unconscionable act of violence” and said that officials have taken “all necessary precautions throughout the city, including increased security measures.”

He called on city residents and visitors to be vigilant and keenly aware of their surroundings. “If you witness any suspicious activity or see anything that looks out of the ordinary, we encourage you to immediately report it to your local authorities,” he said..

Extra security was being added at Miami International Airport, about 30 miles south, as a precaution, officials said.

“The Miami-Dade Police Department continues to monitor the situation at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and are providing support personnel to assist during this incident,” said Major Hector Llevat of Miami-Dade police. “Furthermore, we have initiated immediate security plans in partnership with our law enforcement and security partners to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors at Miami International Airport.”

President-elect Donald Trump said he was "monitoring the terrible situation" and said he had spoken with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who was on his way to the airport to be briefed by law enforcement.

Scott told reporters on the scene that he wants to see the suspect punished to the full extent of the law and confirmed that he had been in touch with both President-elect Trump and Vice-President elect Pence.

"The citizens of Florida will not tolerate senseless acts of evil," Scott said. "I just can’t imagine how this could ever happen in a state like ours."

In a statement, Sen. Nelson noted that officials have already authorized doubling the number of TSA canine teams. But "the fact is that wherever there are crowds, such as at our airports, we remain vulnerable to these types of attacks," Nelson acknowledged.

Fort Lauderdale Airport is America’s 21st busiest by passenger traffic after nearly 27 million people flew through the airport in 2015.

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who served under President George W. Bush, was at the airport at the time of the shooting and was one of the first people to report it had happened.