Officials in Anchorage held a press conference on Jan. 7 regarding what’s known about Esteban Santiago, the alleged shooter in the attack at the Fort Lauderdale airport on Jan. 6. In spite of known mental health concerns, police returned a firearm to Santiago in December, which may have been used in the attack.
Speaking at the Anchorage Police Department’s headquarters, FBI Special Agent Marlon Ritzman told a crowded room of reporters that in November of last year, Santiago came in to the Bureau’s Anchorage office complaining a government agency was controlling his mind and making him watch ISIS videos.
“During our initial investigation we found no ties to terrorism,” Ritzman said, reading from prepared remarks.
Local officials laid out a detailed chronology of Santiago’s contact with law enforcement over the course of the last year. Beginning in January of 2016 and involving Santiago’s girlfriend at their Fairview home, a series of domestic violence incidents were reported to police. But few of them led to any arrests or charges.
By November of last year, Santiago had what Anchorage Police Chief Chris Tolley called a “mental health crisis,” and walked into the FBI’s office with complaints of “terroristic thoughts.”
“Santiago had a loaded magazine on him, but had left his firearm in his vehicle prior to contacting agents,” Tolley said.
APD officers later brought Santiago to a mental health facility in Anchorage, where he was admitted. The same day, APD confiscated his firearm for safe-keeping. But because Santiago was never “adjudicated mentally ill,” on December 8th APDÂ returned the weapon, which may have been the one used in the Fort Lauderdale shooting.
“There’s speculation that this is the same gun,” Tolley said, adding quickly, “I have not received confirmation that it is in fact that same gun.”
The FBI believes Santiago acted alone when he planned and carried out the attack.
According to U.S. District Attorney Karen Loeffler, there’s no federal rule that would have prohibited Santiago from legally transporting a firearm on a commercial flight.
Santiago is a decorated former member of the Puerto Rico and Alaska national guards, and he was deployed to Iraq as a combat engineer from 2010 to 2011. He was given a general discharge from the Alaska National Guard in August of 2016, according to Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead.
Investigators haven’t yet determined a motive for why Santiago flew to South Florida for the attack.
Correction: An earlier version of this story quoted Chief Tolley as saying Santiago had left his newborn child in a vehicle when he contact the FBI. The FBI now says that was inaccurate, and that the child remained under supervision until retrieved by his mother.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
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