Airport shooting suspect blamed 'mind control,' ISIS ties
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The man suspected of fatally shooting five people and wounding six others at a Florida airport has been ordered held without bond.
During a Tuesday morning hearing in Fort Lauderdale, an FBI agent confirmed that the 9 mm gun used in the Jan. 6 shooting rampage at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the same weapon Anchorage, Alaska, police seized and later returned to 26-year-old Esteban Santiago last year.
The gun was seized in November after Santiago walked into an FBI field office and said the federal government was controlling his mind and forcing him to watch Islamic State videos, authorities said.
Tuesday, an FBI agent testified Santiago voluntarily agreed to a psychiatric evaluation, spent a day at a hospital and then was admitted to a psychiatric institute for 5 days. He was interviewed by the FBI a second time when he retreived the gun at the Anchorage police department, the agent said.
The agent also testified that Santiago mentioned after the shooting that he was under government mind control. Later in the interview he claimed to have been inspired by Islamic State-related chatrooms and websites and was in contact with “like-minded” individuals.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow set a Jan. 30 arraignment hearing.
Santiago could get the death penalty if convicted of federal airport violence and firearms charges that resulted in death. He has yet to enter a plea.