The Ft Lauderdale Attack

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/06/reports-shots-fired-at-fort-lauderdale-airport.html


At this point there is much to speculate about. The shooter in the Ft Lauderdale airport attack is identified as Esteban Santiago. He is further identified as having been discharged from the National Guard in Alaska four months ago. Santiago reportedly boarded an Air Canada flight from Anchorage to Ft Lauderdale with a stop at Minneapolis (emphasis mine). Upon check in, he declared that he had a weapon, which was in checked baggage. (There are allowances for this as long as the weapon is declared, secured, and in checked luggage. Presumably, the ammunition was packed separately.) Upon arrival in Ft Lauderdale, he supposedly got his baggage, went to a men's room, got the gun out of his baggage, loaded it, and went back out to the baggage claim area to begin his assault.

Fox News is now reporting that Santiago served in Iraq with the Puerto Rican National Guard and later joined the Guard in Alaska. He was reportedly discharged for "unsatisfactory performance". Reportedly, he was being traeted for mental health issues after returning from Iraq.

So the questions hanging out there are:

Motive. In that respect, many are questioning if Santiago was a convert to Islam. There is no report of that at this time, so that is purely speculation.

Why did Santiago go to the trouble of carrying out his attack in Florida when he could have done it at the check-in area at Anchorage?

Here is a question I have: Did that flight that Santiago was on take on any baggage at Minneapolis? I ask that because Minneapolis is home to the country's largest Somali population, and the FBI has its hands full with Somalis in the US who have joined Al Shabaab. The FBI has arrested numerous Somalis attempting to plan attacks in concert with Al Shabaab or ISIS. That leads me to ask if any Somalis are employed at Minneapolis airport handling baggage. Again, I stress that is purely speculation. At this point it appears this was a badly disturbed individual. We need to await further details.