Accused airport killer identified as war veteran with criminal record

Suspected Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shooter Esteban Santiago Ruiz. (Photo provided by law enforcement sources)

Story by ABC-TV Local 10News WPLG Ft. Lauderdale
Written by Andrea Torres and Glenna Milberg

Esteban Santiago Ruiz, the accused killer at the crowded baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, had his U.S. Army identification on him when he was arrested on Friday, authorities said.

The 26-year-old former combat engineer was born in New Jersey and raised in Puerto Rico. His brother, Bryan Santiago, lives in Penuela, where they grew up. He told reporters he lives with their mom, but their father died, while his brother was serving overseas in the military.

His maternal aunt, Maria Ruiz, who lives in Union City, told reporters in New Jersey that he wasn't the same when he came back from Iraq. He served with the Puerto Rican National Guard's 13th Engineer Battalion from April 23, 2010 to Feb. 19, 2011.

"He lost his mind," Ruiz said in Spanish, as she referred to a psychiatric hospitalization that occurred after he suffered from hallucinations.

Records show Santiago had three driver's licenses from Alaska, New York and Puerto Rico. When he was arrested for the shooting that killed five and wounded at least eight, he had a pending criminal case in Anchorage, Alaska, and was due in court in March.

After Santiago's military service in Puerto Rico and Alaska from Dec. 14, 2007 to August 2016, the former Army private first class was still undergoing psychological treatment, according to relatives.

His brother told reporters in Puerto Rico and New York that Santiago went back to school and when he couldn't find work in Puerto Rico, he moved to Alaska, where he was arrested in January.

Santiago was the father of a baby, who was born in September, Ruiz told Telemundo in New York.

Santiago's brother also said he had been getting into "fights with a lot of people." Police officers with the Anchorage Police Department responded to a domestic-violence incident. Prosecutors charged him with misdemeanor counts of property damage and assault and one count was dimissed.

On Friday, Santiago checked a bag with a firearm before boarding a Delta Air Lines flight from Alaska to Fort Lauderdale. He walked into the men's restroom to load the weapon and walked to the baggage claim area, where witnesses said he pulled the trigger and appeared to be aiming at victims heads.

Local 10 News' Glenna Milberg contributed to this report.