Esteban Santiago went to baggage claim and picked up his one piece of checked luggage.
There were no other bags, just a case with a handgun inside.
Santiago allegedly took the 9 mm handgun out of its case and fired at other travelers Friday afternoon, killing five people at the Fort Lauderdale airport. On Saturday, authorities revised the number of wounded to six after earlier saying eight.
A few months earlier he reportedly had a mental evaluation after a bizarre visit to an FBI office in Alaska.
Friday’s shooting sent the airport terminal into chaos, with people running for cover. They started running again when rumors of more gunshots and a possible second shooter spread through the busy airport. Almost 40 others would get hurt in the rushed evacuation after the attack. Some suffered sprains and bruises; others had broken bones.
He visited an Alaska FBI office in November, saying his mind was being controlled by US intelligence. He left a gun in the car.
Complaint: He aimed for heads
Law enforcement officials identified Esteban Santiago, 26, as the suspect in the five deaths at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Santiago didn’t resist when he was taken into custody, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said. According to his booking information, Santiago is being held without bond on a murder charge.
He lives in Alaska, where he was a security guard.
Alaska was also the site of his last military assignment. He was a member of the Alaska Army National Guard from November 2014 until August when he was discharged for unsatisfactory performance, a spokeswoman for the guard said.
In November, Santiago paid a visit to the FBI office in Anchorage, telling agents he was hearing voices and being directed by a US intelligence agency to watch ISIS videos, law enforcement sources told CNN.
George Piro, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Miami, told reporters that Santiago was turned over to local authorities and he voluntarily submitted to a mental health evaluation.
“His erratic behavior concerned FBI agents,” Piro said Saturday.
The military said Santiago’s nine years of service in the National Guard included one 10-month tour in Iraq, where he was awarded a combat action badge.
Santiago returned from Iraq a changed man, his aunt told CNN.
“His mind was not right,” Maria Ruiz Rivera said. “He seemed normal at times, but other times he seemed lost. He changed.”
She added, “He talked about all the destruction and the killing of children. He had visions all the time.”
Ruiz said she lost contact with her nephew several months ago.
“He stopped calling,” she said. “He wouldn’t respond to my messages. I would call and text. He seemed distant.”
Her family is still in shock, she said.
“Who would have imagined that he could do something like this?” she said. “I don’t say that because we’re family. I say it because he wasn’t like that.”
How did he get to Fort Lauderdale?
Piro said Santiago flew from Anchorage to Minneapolis to Fort Lauderdale on a Delta Air Lines flight.
More on the shooting
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A lieutenant with the Anchorage airport police said Santiago had one bag – a handgun case with a pistol inside that he checked.
Authorities do not know why Santiago was in Fort Lauderdale.