A U.S. Federal magistrate ruled Monday that Esteban Santiago, accused of killing five people and injuring six others Friday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, be held in detention pending a bond hearing.
Santiago is facing three federal counts, two of which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty. He was charged with murder, using a gun during a crime of violence and performing an act of violence in an airport serving international civil aviation, according to a federal affidavit.
Magistrate Judge Alicia O. Valle found Santiago indigent and ordered he be represented by a public defender.
Santiago is next scheduled to appear on Jan. 17 in a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana S. Snow.
According to the affidavit, the FBI reports that Santiago pulled out a handgun in Terminal 2's baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale airport. He fired between 10 and 15 rounds, aiming at victims' heads, and was walking in a methodical manner. The report says he left the baggage area onto the sidewalk, then re-entered. He was then approached by a Broward County sheriff's deputy, and at that point, Santiago dropped the handgun. He was arrested by deputies.
During the interview process afterwards with the Broward Sheriff's Office and FBI, Santiago said he planned the attack, buying a one-way ticket from Anchorage, Alaska to Fort Lauderdale, via Minneapolis. He had only checked a 9mm handgun and two magazines of ammo inside a box. Once in the airport, Santiago said he'd claimed the box and took it into a men's restroom, where he took the gun, loaded it and put it in his waistband.
He then left the restroom and shot the first people he saw, the report said. He emptied one magazine, reloaded, and fired again. Santiago told authorities he believed he shot about 15 rounds.
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