{"id":18924,"date":"2017-01-07T05:31:24","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T05:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=18924"},"modified":"2017-01-07T05:31:24","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T05:31:24","slug":"florida-airport-assailant-may-have-heard-voices-urging-violence-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/florida-airport-assailant-may-have-heard-voices-urging-violence-officials-say.html","title":{"rendered":"Florida Airport Assailant May Have Heard Voices Urging Violence, Officials Say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Florida Airport Assailant May Have Heard Voices Urging Violence, Officials Say<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Florida Airport Assailant May Have Heard Voices Urging Violence, Officials Say:-<\/strong> Federal law enforcement officials said they were investigating whether the gunman who opened fire on Friday at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., killing five people and wounding eight, was mentally disturbed and heard voices in his head telling him to commit acts of violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a senior law enforcement official, the gunman, identified as Esteban Santiago, 26, walked into the F.B.I. office in Anchorage in November and made disturbing remarks that prompted officials to urge him to seek mental health care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Santiago, appearing \u201cagitated and incoherent,\u201d said \u201cthat his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency,\u201d the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other officials said it was too early to tell whether Mr. Santiago, who was captured in the airport, had been inspired by terrorist groups, including the Islamic State. The officials said he had viewed extremist materials on the internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after 1 p.m. Friday, the suspect, who had been an airline passenger, pulled a semiautomatic handgun out of his bag and opened fire in a crowded baggage claim area in Terminal 2, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shooting spurred a scene of panic and confusion that played out on live television as scores of travelers burst out of the terminal and onto the tarmac, running and seeking cover, at times in response to erroneous rumors of follow-up attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Fogarty, a carpenter from Key West, was heading to Canc\u00fan, Mexico, on vacation when the people around him suddenly began running toward the gates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was dropping gear, panicking, jumping over tables,\u201d Mr. Fogarty said in a phone interview. \u201cWe were saying: \u2018What is going on? Are there people shooting?\u2019 I am not hearing any gunshots, and the whole place is panicking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Officers took Mr. Santiago into custody without firing a shot, and on Friday evening, he was being interviewed by F.B.I. agents and county investigators, as the wounded were being treated at hospitals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The senior law enforcement official said Mr. Santiago was making \u201cdisjointed\u201d statements in his Anchorage F.B.I. visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Santiago stated that he did not wish to harm anyone, as a result of his erratic behavior, interviewing agents contacted local authorities,\u201d who took him to a medical facility for evaluation, the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe F.B.I. closed its assessment of Santiago after conducting database reviews, interagency checks, and interviews of his family members,\u201d the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Twitter, President-elect Donald J. Trump said that he was \u201cmonitoring the terrible situation in Florida\u201d and that he had spoken to Gov. Rick Scott.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hours after the attack, a picture began to emerge of Mr. Santiago as a man who had served his country, but who had experienced trouble and failure. Mr. Santiago was discharged in August from the Alaska Army National Guard for \u201cunsatisfactory performance,\u201d according to Lt. Col. Candis A. Olmstead, the spokeswoman for the Alaska Guard. In September, Mr. Santiago became a father when his son was born, according to an aunt, Maria Luisa Ruiz, a resident of Union City, N.J., who spoke on Friday to the newspaper The Record.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an email, Ms. Olmstead said that Mr. Santiago joined the Puerto Rico National Guard in December 2007. In 2010, he deployed to Balad, Iraq, with the 130th Engineer Battalion, which spent a year clearing roads of improvised explosives and maintaining bridges; he was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation.<\/span><\/p>\n

At least two soldiers from his company were killed in insurgent attacks during the tour, but there is nothing in the record that indicates Mr. Santiago had been in combat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Olmstead said he served in the Army Reserves before joining the Alaska Army National Guard in November 2014. Before his discharge last year, he worked as a combat engineer as a private first class. An official service record released on Friday by the Army showed that Mr. Santiago had received a number of commendations, including the Army Good Conduct Medal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Santiago\u2019s brother, Bryan Santiago, told The Associated Press that Esteban was born in New Jersey and moved to Puerto Rico when he was 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Unknown Motive<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nelson Cruz, a Puerto Rico senator who represents Pe\u00f1uelas, the city in Puerto Rico where Mr. Santiago grew up, said he met Mr. Santiago about seven or eight years ago, and found him to be a \u201cgood young man\u201d who loved his family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Cruz said he spoke on Friday with Bryan Santiago, who relayed that the family was shocked by the news of the killings. The family offered no known motive for the crime, but noted that Esteban had recently been hallucinating and was receiving psychological treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBryan said his brother went to Iraq or Afghanistan, one of those places, and came back with psychological problems,\u201d Mr. Cruz said. \u201cHe would suddenly see visions, but that he was a calm young man and was never violent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Esteban Santiago liked sports (particularly boxing, as Bryan is a boxing trainer) and was proud of his military career. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what happened with this guy,\u201d Mr. Cruz said. \u201cHe was an intelligent, brilliant young man who came back affected. When he came back from the conflict, he did not return well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the family wanted to express condolences, but was in a state of panic over the number of news reporters outside their house.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a news conference late Friday in Florida, officials warned that learning the gunman\u2019s motive would be a long, complex process. \u201cWe have not ruled out terrorism, and we will pursue every angle to try to determine the motive behind this attack,\u201d said George Piro, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.\u2019s Miami division.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shooting comes at a tense time for a nation that has been watching nervously as terrorist attacks have occurred elsewhere in the world, and as Mr. Trump, who has promised to bar Muslims from entering the country, prepares to ascend to the presidency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/01\/06\/us\/fort-lauderdale-airport.html?_r=0<\/span><\/div>\n

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