Florida airport shooter heard voices telling him to join ISIS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — Former US soldier Esteban Santiago-Ruiz who was arrested for killing five people at Fort Lauderdale Airport near Miami, Florida on Friday had said that voices in his head told him to join ISIS, FBI said.
“Only thing I could tell you was when he came out of Iraq, he wasn’t feeling too good,” the Associated Press reported his uncle, Hernan Rivera, as saying.
Local police report 13 people were shot and more than 30 others were injured from falling.
CBS reports Santiago-Ruiz walked into an FBI office in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2016 and claimed voices were telling him to fight for ISIS.
According to local commissioner Chip LaMarca, Santiago-Ruiz arrived in Fort Lauderdale with a gun that he had properly checked in a bag with the airlines.
On Friday, Santiago-Ruiz took a flight from Alaska to Florida with a layover stop in Minnesota.
Somewhere along the way, he got into an argument with someone, officials said at a press briefing.
“Only thing I could tell you was when he came out of Iraq, he wasn’t feeling too good,” the Associated Press reported his uncle, Hernan Rivera, as saying.
Local police report 13 people were shot and more than 30 others were injured from falling.
CBS reports Santiago-Ruiz walked into an FBI office in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2016 and claimed voices were telling him to fight for ISIS.
According to local commissioner Chip LaMarca, Santiago-Ruiz arrived in Fort Lauderdale with a gun that he had properly checked in a bag with the airlines.
On Friday, Santiago-Ruiz took a flight from Alaska to Florida with a layover stop in Minnesota.
Somewhere along the way, he got into an argument with someone, officials said at a press briefing.
“He claimed his bag and took the gun from baggage and went into the bathroom to load it. Came out shooting people in baggage claim,” LaMarca said.
Puerto Rico National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Dahlen said that Santiago-Ruiz, 27, was deployed to Iraq in 2010 for a year with the 130th Engineer Battalion, the 1013th engineer company.
His aunt, Maria Ruiz-Rivera, said he had been hospitalized with mental health issues.