Fort Lauderdale airport gunman sentenced to life

Esteban Santiago was sentenced to five consecutive life terms on Friday in Broward County

An Iraq war veteran has been sentenced to life in prison for a shooting last year at a Florida airport that left five dead and six injured.

Esteban Santiago, 28, was sentenced on Friday to five life terms plus 120 years in prison in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.

He confessed in May to the 6 Jan 2017 shooting at the baggage claim of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport.

He was diagnosed with schizophrenia but was deemed able to stand trial.

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Santiago had turned himself into an FBI office prior to the shooting but was released

He flew from Anchorage, Alaska, to Florida on a one-way ticket, retrieving a box containing handgun from his checked luggage, before loading it in a bathroom and emerging to fire 15 shots at passengers collecting their luggage in Terminal 2.

Santiago surrendered to police when he ran out of ammunition, witnesses said.