FBI agents conducted an investigation at the home of family of the suspected gunman who authorities say took the lives of five people in a deadly shooting at an airport in Ft.
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The shooter, identified as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, was being prosecuted for allegedly strangling and hitting his girlfriend last year, according to court documents filed in Anchorage, Alaska, where he lived.
He deployed in 2010 as part of the Puerto Rico National Guard, spending a year with an engineering battalion, according to Guard spokesman Major Paul Dahlen.
Anchorage city Police Chief Chris Tolley detailed other complaints of physical disturbances past year involving Esteban Santiago but said officers either found no probable cause for arrest or were told by the city prosecutor not to arrest him.
Anchorage police were called to the office by the agency, and were told Santiago was having “terroristic thoughts” and believed he was being influenced by the so-called Islamic State group. But because Santiago was never “adjudicated mentally ill”, on December 8th APD returned the weapon, which may have been the one used in the Fort Lauderdale shooting.
Santiago is to make his first appearance in a federal Fort Lauderdale court on Monday, though, according to the newspaper it may take weeks before official charges are filed. Veterans are also at risk for other mental health problems, with studies estimating up to one in four returning troops suffer from depression.
Investigators have not ruled out terrorism as a motive and say the suspect’s recent travel is being reviewed. He then checked himself into a hospital for a mental health evaluation.
“FBI Newark is in the vicinity in Union City conducting official law enforcement activity”, Whitaker said. There have been concerns raised about why Mr. Santiago was not placed on a no-fly list.
Santiago was charged in a domestic violence case in January 2016, damaging a door when he forced his way into a bathroom at his girlfriend’s Anchorage home. Police Chief Chris Tolley in Anchorage, Alaska, detailed the encounters with Esteban Santiago at a news conference Saturday. After he ran out of bullets, he got on the ground and waited for police to arrest him.
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The online news source said Alaska court records show Santiago also had a record for minor traffic infractions including operating a vehicle without insurance and a broken taillight and was evicted from a dwelling for non-payment of rent in February 2015. She says the suspect has no connection to Canada.
