What we know about the Ft. Lauderdale shooter, Esteban Santiago [updated]

by SooperMexican

The shooter who was caught after a massacre at the Fort Lauderdale Airport is said to have had mental issues:

Law enforcement sources identified the Fort Lauderdale Airport shooter as Esteban Santiago, a 26-year-old man born in New Jersey who appears to have acted alone.

Federal sources told NBC News the shootings did not appear to be an act of terrorism, and both federal and family sources said Santiago had some mental health issues.

Santiago, born in March 1990, had military ID on him when he was arrested, multiple senior law enforcement sources told NBC. Sources added that he arrived on a flight from Canada, picked up his gun at baggage claim in the airport’s Terminal 2 and then began firing.

CNN is also reporting that eyewitnesses say he was in an altercations on the plane from Canada to Florida, and that might have been the motivation for the shooting.

We have a lot of information as the story originally unfolded here.

UPDATE:

CBS is reporting this is the shooter’s picture:

They are reporting that someone with that name and description walked into a military office and told them that the army was forcing him to watch ISIS videos. They say he was taken to get help for mental illness after that.

Then there is this odd photo, which appears to be the same guy, from the internet:

https://twitter.com/TEN_GOP/status/817483851337498624

Very odd. Now I would take the description with a grain of salt – people lie like dogs on the internet. BUT, our friend and Middle East expert Walid Shoebat explained what he might be doing with that hand signal:

The Muslim calls the index finger sabbabah, this is a sign that he believes that Allah is unique one who sent Muslims to destroy the concept of the Trinity.

He also believes he’s wearing what fits the appearance of a Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf.

UPDATE:

More from CBS.

UPDATE:

More from the Associated Press:

The brother of the man who has been tentatively named as the suspect in a deadly shooting at a Florida airport says the suspect had been receiving psychological treatment while living in Alaska.

Bryan Santiago tells The Associated Press that his family got a call in recent months from 26-year-old Esteban Santiago’s girlfriend alerting them to the situation.

Bryan Santiago said he didn’t know what his brother was being treated for and that they never talked about it over the phone.

He said Esteban Santiago was born in New Jersey but moved to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico when he was 2 years old. He said Esteban Santiago grew up in the southern coastal town of Penuelas and served with the island’s National Guard for a couple of years. He was deployed to Iraq in 2010 and spent a year there with the 130th Engineer Battalion, the 1013th engineer company out of Aguadilla, according to Puerto Rico National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Dahlen.

UPDATE:

Famous hacker “Jester” says the attackers Instagram was discovered:

And quickly scrubbed by Instagram or someone who had access to the account:

Very odd.

UPDATE:

From the Associated Press:

A law enforcement official says the Florida airport gunman told the FBI in November that the government was controlling his mind and was forcing him to watch Islamic State group videos.

The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity.

The official says agents in Anchorage completed their interview with 26-year-old Esteban Santiago and called the police, who took him for a mental health evaluation.

A lot of people are saying this makes him an Islamist, but doesn’t this make him just insane?

If you’ll remember, the Washington D.C. dockyard killer was also in the military, and said that he started hearing voices that he believed were being transmitted by the government. Conspiracy morons will take this to mean that the government is actually doing such a thing, when they should be concluding that we need to do more about mental illness…

UPDATE – his military service:

MILITARY INFORMATION:
Rank: Private First Class (E3) effective February 2016

MOS/Branch: Combat Engineer (12B)

Component: Puerto Rico National Guard; Alaska National Guard

Dates of Service: December 2007 to August 2016

Assignments:
April 2008 to November 2008: Puerto Rico National Guard November 2008 to March 2009: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri March 2009 to March 2010: Puerto Rico National Guard March 2010 to April 2011: Fort Dix, New Jersey April 2011 to February 2014: Puerto Rico National Guard February 2014 to November 2014: Inactive Ready Reserve November 2014 to August 2016: Alaska National Guard August 2016: transferred to Inactive Ready Reserve

Deployments:
Iraq (April 2010 to February 2011)

Awards:
Army Commendation Medal
Army Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal with campaign star
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/ “M” Device Army Service Ribbon Overseas Service Ribbon Combat Action Badge Driver and Mechanic Badge – Wheeled Vehicle

UPDATE:

The family has spoken out. His aunt said the following, “like a month ago, it was like he lost his mind. He said he saw things.”

When schizophrenia strikes, it often hits people in their twenties. That might be a major cause here.

More as it becomes available…


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