In the first mass shooting of 2017, a gunman opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida Friday afternoon. In the aftermath, Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced that he briefed President-elect Donald Trump on the incident, but failed to do so with President Obama.
Florida shooting
It appeared to be another routine day at the Fort Lauderdale airport on Friday afternoon, but then a gunman opened fire, shooting at least 13 bullets that caused five deaths, while leaving eight others injured. The suspect has since been captured, and has been ID'd as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago.
Santiago was found with a Military ID in his possession after being apprehended by law enforcement as he was trying to reload his weapon. As reported by Fox News on January 6, Gov. Rick Scott elaborated further during a news conference.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott: "Pres-elect Trump and VP Pence reached out to me, Obama has not." That pretty well says who is our REAL President! pic.twitter.com/0Hh17oUM2k
— Tennessee GOP (@TEN_GOP) January 6, 2017
Gov. Rick Scott spoke to reports on Friday afternoon, going into further detail about the information surrounding the shooting. Scott confirmed that he had reached out and briefed Donald Trump and Mike Pence, but did not offer the same courtesy for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
While Scott attempted to excuse his actions by telling the media that he never heard from the president, he then noted that he was the one who made the call to the Trump team. When asked about the situation further, Scott said he didn't want to get political.
A gunman opened fired at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, killing at least 5 and wounding at least 8 others https://t.co/Ogw10hPi9s
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 6, 2017
Despite not being in contact with Rick Scott, Obama was briefed by other officials, though he has yet to make a statement.
Trump, on the other hand, took to Twitter to give his thoughts. "Monitoring the terrible situation in Florida. Just spoke to Governor Scott," Trump tweeted, before adding, "Thoughts and prayers for all. Stay safe!"
NEW: Esteban Santiago was member of Alaska Nat'l Guard until Aug. '16, when he received general discharge for “unsatisfactory performance.” pic.twitter.com/5ogeWczXTJ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2017
Shooter information
While little is currently known about Fort Lauderdale shooter Esteban Santiago, information is starting to be released.
Born in New Jersey in 1990, Santiago is a United States citizen and former member of the United States Army Reservists. Santiago had recent questions surrounding his mental health, including an incident at an FBI office in Alaska last November where he was taken to a psychiatric facility after telling people he was being forced to fight the Islamic State terrorist group. It's currently unknown what Santiago's motive was for the shooting.
