Suspect in airport shooting was not passenger on Canadian flight

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (NEWS 1130) – A military spokeswoman says the suspect in a deadly shooting at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, airport received a general discharge from the Alaska Army National Guard last year for unsatisfactory performance.

Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead did not release details about 26-year-old Esteban Santiago’s discharge in August 2016. Olmstead said that he joined the Guard in November 2014.

Puerto Rico National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Dahlen said that Santiago was deployed to Iraq in 2010 and spent a year there with the 130th Engineer Battalion, the 1013th engineer company out of Aguadilla.

Olmstead also said that Santiago had served in the Army Reserves prior to joining the Alaska Army National Guard.

Authorities say five people were killed and eight were wounded after a the suspect opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, international airport.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office tweeted the information following the shooting.

Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told CNN that authorities “have an active crime scene investigation involving terminal 2.”

Ft Lauderdale airport witness: “Everybody started running…some lady was yelling for help.” https://t.co/mSBYzuRvC5 https://t.co/bINt8EnSWr

— CNN (@CNN) January 6, 2017

News stations showed video of medics taking care of a bleeding victim outside the airport. Helicopters hovering over the scene showed hundreds of people standing on the tarmac as an ambulance drove by and numerous law enforcement officers, including tactical units, rushed to the scene.

Broward Police Commisioner Chip LaMarca says the shooter was a passenger on a Canadian flight with a gun. “He checked his bag and took the gun from baggage and went into the bathroom to load it. He came out shooting people in baggage claim.”

He adds 13 people in total were shot.

However, Air Canada said it has no record of any passenger with the name of the suspect nor of any checked guns on any of its flights to the city.

“We can confirm that we have no record of such a passenger by that name, or checked guns, on any of our flights to FLL,” the tweet said.

LaMarca said of the suspect: “After he claimed his bag, he went into the bathroom and loaded the gun and started shooting. We don’t know why.”

The attack took place at Terminal 2, which serves Delta Air Lines and Air Canada.

Sheriff Scott Israel says the gunman was not harmed and that law enforcement did not fire any shots. He says it is not yet known if the shooting was an act of terror.

Global Affairs Canada says it is closely monitoring the situation.