Florida shooter says govt controlling mind

Governor Rick Scott says he called Trump, not Obama, after the shooting

WITHOUT A word, the gunman moved through the baggage claim picking off travelers until his handgun ran out of ammunition, leaving five dead and eight wounded in Fort Lauderdale’s airport. Panicked witnesses ran out of the terminal and spilled onto the tarmac, baggage in hand. Others hid in bathroom stalls or crouched behind cars or anything else they could find as police and paramedics rushed in Friday to help the wounded and establish whether there were any other gunmen. 37 people were injured in the commotion after the shooting.

Authorities said an Army veteran who complained that the government was controlling his mind drew a gun from his checked luggage on arrival and opened fire on fellow travelers.

The gunman was identified as 26-yearold Esteban Santiago of Anchorage, Alaska, who served in Iraq with the National Guard but was demoted and discharged last year for unsatisfactory performance. His brother said he had been receiving psychological treatment recently; his family also said he’d recently become a dad to a son.

An official told The Associated Press that Santiago had walked into the FBI office in Anchorage in November to say that the US government was controlling his mind and making him watch Islamic State videos.

Agents questioned an agitated and disjointed-sounding Santiago and then called police, who took him for a mental health evaluation, according to the official, who was not authorised to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

FBI agent George Piro, who is in charge of the Miami field office, confirmed that Santiago had come into the Anchorage office and said he clearly indicated at the time that he was not intent on hurting anyone.

Piro said authorities are looking at leads in several states and have not ruled out terrorism. “We’re looking at every angle, including the terrorism angle,” he said

Santiago, who is in federal custody, will face federal charges and is expected to appear in court Monday, Piro said. The airport reopened early Saturday, though many flights were canceled or delayed and long lines of passengers were forming.

The White House said President Obama had been briefed about the shooting and had spoken with Florida Governor Rick Scott.

Interestingly, before the White House statement, Scott said he had not spoken to Obama regarding the shooting but had reached out to President-elect Trump and has “spoken to him and Vice President-elect Pence multiple times” because he has a ''personal relationship'' with them.

Trump said that it is a “disgraceful situation that’s happening in our country and throughout the world’’ and that it was too soon to say whether it was a terrorist attack.

Santiago’s brother, Bryan, told the AP that his brother had been receiving psychological treatment in Alaska. He said Santiago’s girlfriend alerted the family to the situation in recent months. AP