War Veteran Indicted on 22 Criminal Counts for Florida Airport Shooting
A U.S. Military veteran who killed 5 people in a gun rampage at Florida's Fort Lauderdale International Airport earlier this month was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday.
Esteban Ruiz Santiago, 26, carried out a lone shooting attack at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on January 6 in which five people were killed and six injured.
A federal grand jury in Broward County, Florida, on Thursday indicted Santiago on 22 criminal charges which include 11 counts of causing death or serious injury at an international airport, five counts of causing death using a firearm, and six counts of discharging a firearm during a crime. None of the charges are terrorism related despite Santiago telling the F.B.I. that he was inspired by pro-ISIS videos and chats, reports Reuters.
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The indictment accuses Santiago of "substantial planning and premeditation to cause the death of a person." If convicted, the war veteran could face a death penalty or life imprisonment. The Justice Department has yet to declare if it will seek a federal death sentence in Santiago's case.
On January 6, Santiago took a flight from Anchorage, Alaska, to Fort Lauderdale, carrying with him his weapon and ammunition in luggage which he checked in. Upon arriving at the Florida airport, Santiago loaded his handgun in a bathroom and began firing at people standing at a baggage carousel. Authorities said that he fired 15 shots, which killed five people and injured six others, before he ran out of ammunition and submitted to arrest. Santiago later confessed to the shooting in an F.B.I. interrogation conducted after his arrest.
Santiago, a member of the National Guard who served in the Iraq War from 2010 to 2011, reportedly suffered from mental disorders with his aunt telling Newark's Star-Ledger newspaper after the shooting that Santiago had "lost his mind" after his military tour. There were four reported cases of domestic violence or physical disturbances at Santiago's house last year which led to him being arrested twice.
Santiago also visited the F.B.I. office in Anchorage two months before the attack complaining about hearing voices which he attributed to C.I.A. mind control. The voices, he claimed, were the government forcing him to watch Islamic State terrorist videos. This led the Anchorage police to confiscate his gun and assign him to a brief stay in a mental institution. He was, however, released five days later and his weapon was returned to him – which happened to be the same gun he used to carry out the deadly attack, reports The New York Times.
