Yesterday it was widely reported that this attack had nothing to do with terrorism. Now authorities are backtracking.
“Fort Lauderdale airport suspect ‘came here specifically’ to attack, FBI says,” by Catherine E. Shoichet, Steve Almasy and Ray Sanchez, CNN, January 7, 2017:
(CNN)Esteban Santiago went to baggage claim and picked up his one piece of checked luggage.
There were no other bags, just a case with a handgun inside.
Santiago allegedly took the 9 mm handgun out of its case and fired at other travelers Friday afternoon, killing five people at the Fort Lauderdale airport. On Saturday, authorities revised the number of wounded to six after earlier saying eight.
A few months earlier he reportedly had a mental evaluation after a bizarre visit to an FBI office in Alaska….
In November, Santiago paid a visit to the FBI office in Anchorage, telling agents he was hearing voices and being directed by a US intelligence agency to watch ISIS videos, law enforcement sources told CNN.
George Piro, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Miami, told reporters that Santiago was turned over to local authorities and he voluntarily submitted to a mental health evaluation.
“His erratic behavior concerned FBI agents,” Piro said Saturday.
The military said Santiago’s nine years of service in the National Guard included one 10-month tour of Iraq, where he was awarded a combat action badge.
Santiago returned from Iraq a changed man, his aunt told CNN on Saturday.
“His mind was not right,” the aunt, Maria Ruiz Rivera, said in a phone interview in Spanish from her home in New Jersey. “He seemed normal at times, but other times he seemed lost. He changed.”
She added, “He talked about all the destruction and the killing of children. He had visions all the time.”…Authorities do not know why Santiago was in Fort Lauderdale.
But Piro said Saturday that Santiago “came here specifically to carry out this horrific attack.”
“We have not identified any triggers that would have caused this attack,” he said.
Piro said investigators were looking at airport video to see how the rampage unfolded. Authorities have conducted more than 100 interviews as part of their investigation.
What was the motive?
The FBI has not ruled out terrorism, Piro said, but Israel cautioned it was early in the investigation and authorities did not know Santiago’s motive….