AIRPORT GUN KILLER’S PLEA
Shooter gave himself up to FBI
THE first victims of the Florida airport massacre have been named – as it emerged the gunman tried to hand himself in to the FBI months ago.
Michael Oehme, Terry Andres and Olga Woltering were three of the five people killed in the shooting spree at Fort Lauderdale airport.
Mr Andres, 62, was on holiday with his wife Ann, who managed to escape. Mrs Woltering, 90, was going on a cruise to celebrate her husband Ralph’s birthday.
Mr Oehme, 57, from Iowa, was also preparing for a cruise with his wife Kari. She was shot in the shoulder but survived.
Another six people were injured when Iraq war veteran Esteban Santiago, 26, opened fire in the baggage reclaim area. They are still in intensive care.
Last night it emerged Santiago, who has been charged with murder, had gone to the FBI in November. He told officers he was hearing voices telling him to join Islamic State. He also claimed the government controlled his mind.
The FBI’s George Piro said Santiago was behaving “erratically,” but was released after being taken to hospital for a mental evaluation.
Officials said they believed he flew to Fort Lauderdale specifically to carry out the shootings.
It is thought he arrived on a Delta Airlines flight from Alaska after a stopover in Minnesota.
He had just one piece of checked luggage – a gun – which he allegedly loaded in the Terminal 2 bathroom and then used to carry out the massacre.
Flying with guns and ammunition is legal in the US as long as they are kept in a locked container as checked baggage.
Witnesses claimed Santiago said nothing as he walked around the baggage reclaim area, picking off victims one by one.
Yesterday Terminal 2 remained closed but the rest of the airport, which thousands of Brits use each year, had reopened.
Santiago is thought to have been suffering from a string of mental health problems.
His aunt, Maria Ruiz Rivera, claimed he was hospitalised with mental health issues after a tour of duty in Iraq five years ago.
She claimed he “lost his mind” while fighting there. When asked why Santiago may have opened fire her husband, Hernan Rivera, said: “No idea. Only thing I could tell you was when he came out of Iraq, he wasn’t feeling too good.” Last night it emerged that Santiago was demoted and kicked out of the military after going AWOL several times. He was also investigated over child abuse images.
US authorities seized three weapons and a computer in 2011 or 2012, but did not file any charges.
Photos on his Instagram page show Santiago on holiday in the UK. His Instagram status read: “Here’s to finding whether or not your mission on earth is finished; if you’re still alive ... It isn’t.”
The White House said President Obama expressed his condolences to relatives of the victims.
President-elect Donald Trump tweeted his “thoughts and prayers”.