Plot Thickens Surrounding Fort Lauderdale Shooter Esteban Santiago

Travelers are evacuated out of the terminal and onto the tarmac after airport shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. (Photo: Reuters)

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (PPD) — Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, the man the gunman who opened fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday, was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) multiple times.

Santiago, 26, according to his aunt, served in the National Guard and “lost his mind” after a tour of duty in Iraq. Maria Ruiz Rivera, of Union City, said she was told by relatives in Florida that the suspected shooter who killed at least five people at the Fort Lauderdale airport Friday was her nephew, Esteban Santiago-Ruiz.

Agents who identified themselves as being from the FBI arrived at the family’s Union City apartment Friday afternoon to question the aunt and uncle about their nephew, the family said. Sources said Santiago visited the FBI field office in Anchorage, Alaska in November and told agents that U.S. intelligence agencies had infiltrated his mind and were forcing him to watch ISIS propaganda videos.

The FBI transferred him to law enforcement to be checked for mental health concerns. The complete results of the general welfare check are unknown, though the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was brought into a joint-agency background investigation.

It found no clear connection to terror groups.

(Editorial Note: People’s Pundit Daily has found what would appear to be Islamist propaganda on social media profiles before they were taken down. Currently, we are working on confirming certain information with law enforcement sources and/or his family before releasing.)