A Minnesota Connection to Fort Lauderdale Shooting
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A law enforcement official says the Florida airport gunman told the FBI in November that the government was controlling his mind and was forcing him to watch Islamic State group videos.
The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity.
The official says agents in Anchorage completed their interview with 26-year-old Esteban Santiago and called the police, who took him for a mental health evaluation.
The FBI's Anchorage field office said in a statement that it was aware Santiago was an Anchorage resident and that it was assisting in the investigation, but it declined to comment further.
A law enforcement official says the Florida airport gunman told the FBI in November that the government was controlling his mind and was forcing him to watch Islamic State group videos.
The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity.
The official says agents in Anchorage completed their interview with 26-year-old Esteban Santiago and called the police, who took him for a mental health evaluation.
The FBI's Anchorage field office said in a statement that it was aware Santiago was an Anchorage resident and that it was assisting in the investigation, but it declined to comment further.
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An authority says the suspect in a deadly shooting at a Florida airport flew out of Anchorage, Alaska.
Jesse Davis is chief of police at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. He told The Associated Press that 26-year-old Esteban Santiago flew out of Anchorage, Alaska, on a 9:52 p.m. Delta flight Thursday, and that a firearm was his only piece of checked luggage. He says Santiago flew from Anchorage to Minneapolis-St. Paul and on to Fort Lauderdale.
Davis said Santiago didn't call attention to himself and "as far as we can tell" traveled alone, but he said the investigation is ongoing.
Authorities are trying to track Santiago's movements through Alaska's largest commercial airport using video footage.
Davis noted that it's not usual for travelers at the Alaska airport to check firearms because many people hunt.