Crime & Safety

LAX Shooting Update: Suspect with Assault Rifle Opens Fire at Passenger Screening Area, Multiple Victims

Update 5:02 p.m. A total of 746 flights were impacted by the near-shutdown of Los Angeles International Airport in the wake of Friday morning's fatal shooting, Gina Marie Lindsey, the head of Los Angeles World Airports told reporters just before 5 p.m. Nov. 1.

Lindsey said 46 flights were diverted to other airports. Terminal 3 was expected to remain closed, with flight operations shifting to other terminals.

Passengers were urged to contact their airlines for flight information.

Update 3:55 p.m. 
The American Red Cross has opened a shelter to assist passengers stranded by the fatal shooting Friday morning and subsequent flight delays and shutdowns at Los Angeles International Airport.

The center is located at Westchester Recreation Center, 7000 W. Manchester Ave.

Update 3:29 p.m. 
The suspect in the LAX shooting has been identified as Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, a resident of Los Angeles, according to the FBI.

"The FBI is working with partners at the LAPD and the LAX PD to investigate the shooting and the motivation behind it," FBI officials said in a statement Nov. 1. "It would be premature to comment on a motivation at this time and joint investigators have neither ruled out terrorism, nor ruled it in.

"The shooting took place at Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport this morning in the 9:00a.m. hour by an individual believed to be a lone shooter. The suspect was arrested following an officer-involved-shooting, the circumstances of which are also under investigation by police."

Stranded passengers and those in transit who need housing for the night were asked by LAX officials to call (888) 831-7176.

Update 2:26 p.m. 
The Transportation Security Administration agent who was fatally wounded in a shooting in Terminal 3 at LAX on Friday was a "behavorial detection officer" assigned to monitor passenger behavior at and near airport checkpoints, a TSA union official in the Nation's Capital said during a phone conference call with reporters.

"To our knowledge this is the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty," said J. David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union for TSA agents.

"At least three other TSA officers were injured," Cox said. "I do not know if they were bdos (behavioral detection officers) or tsos (transportation security officers). . . . That is our understanding, that they were shot."

The shooter at LAX "was not a TSA officer or TSA employee, that's been confirmed," Cox said.

There are more than 2,100 TSA officers employed at LAX, Cox said.

"No TSA individuals are armed," Cox said. "We have not lobbied for them to be armed. That has been the responsibility of other law enforcement in the airports.  . . . At the current time they do not have arrest powers."

Update 1:17 p.m. 
The Transportation Security Administration has confirmed one of its agents was killed in Friday morning's shooting at LAX.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office confirmed a man about 40 years old who was shot at LAX died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center around 11 a.m. Nov. 1.

Update 12:27 p.m. 
Some flights being diverted from LAX due to the shooting in Terminal 3 may be directed to land in Ontario and Burbank, John Wayne Airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said Friday afternoon.

John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana was operating as usual, but passengers were being advised to check with airlines regarding possible delays, Wedge said.

Update 12:17 p.m.
 The shooter in Terminal 3 at LAX appeared to be acting alone and "was the only person that was armed in this incident," Chief Patrick Gannon of the Airport Police told reporters at a news conference shortly after noon Nov. 1.

Interim Los Angeles Fire Chief Jim Featherstone told reporters paramedics treated seven people at the scene of the shooting, and six were taken to hospitals.

Posted 11:59 a.m.
 A suspect believed to be armed with an assault rifle opened fire Friday morning inside Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport, wounding at least three people and possibly killing a security agent before being shot and taken into custody.

The gunfire erupted around 9:30 a.m. inside the terminal that serves airlines including Allegiant Air, Frontier, Spirit, Virgin America and JetBlue.

It was unclear how many people were struck by gunfire, although initial reports indicated that at least three people had been wounded, including a Transportation Security Administration agent who was shot in a leg. CBS and NBC News both reported that a TSA agent was killed in the gunfire, but police could not immediately confirm the report.

The conditions of the other victims were not immediately known.

Just before noon Nov. 1, J. David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union for TSA agents, issued the following statement in response to the shooting at LAX:

"We are sickened by reports of today's shooting at Los Angeles International Airport. Our sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to the passengers and Transportation Security officers killed or injured in this heinous act. Thank you to all of our brave TSOs who put their lives on the line every day to keep the flying public safe. AFGE is monitoring the situation along with TSA management."

The gunman was wounded and taken into custody. His condition was also unknown. Police reports from the scene indicated a second suspect was arrested near Terminal 2, but that person's connection to the shooting was unclear.

Century Boulevard was closed off leading into the airport, blocking all traffic into LAX, and motorists were advised to avoid the area. Traffic was at a standstill on streets heading toward the airport. Freeway exits near the airport were also closed.

According to multiple reports, a suspect walked into the terminal and opened fire. CBS News reported that the shooter appeared to be targeting TSA agents at the security checkpoint, and the suspect may have been an off-duty TSA agent.

One witness told the Los Angeles Times that a young white male was walking calmly through the terminal firing a rifle-type weapon, which some media outlets reported was an AR-15 assault rifle. Another witness told KNX radio that people began scrambling to evacuate the terminal when the shots rang out. She said some people were directed out through emergency exits onto the tarmac until they were picked up by buses and taken to another terminal.

Airline passenger Dana Starfield told KCAL9 she and other passengers hid in a closet at the terminal after the shots rang out.

"We were all just texting our families and where we were," she told the station. " . . . I just let them know where I was and that I was OK."

Terminal 3 was evacuated, and police were continuing to search the terminal to ensure there were no other suspects or additional victims, according to LAPD Officer Gregory Baek. Scores of law enforcement officers were at the airport, and the LAPD was placed on a citywide tactical alert. Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck arrived at the airport around 10:30 a.m.

Paramedics set up a triage area outside the terminal to treat the wounded.

A ground stop was issued for the airport, meaning planes around the country bound for LAX were being held on the ground. Planes already in the air were landing at LAX, and planes at other terminals were being allowed to depart, according to the mayor's office.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that police were investigating some suspicious packages found at the airport in the wake of the shooting, possibly including a box of ammunition.

The shooting was the first of its type at LAX since 2002, when an Egyptian-born Irvine resident opened fire at the El Al ticket counter on the Fourth of July.

El Al employee Victoria Hen and Yaakov Aminov, who was at LAX to see a friend off, were killed and several other people were injured before the gunman - Hesham Mohamed Hadayet - was shot dead by an El Al security officer.

Reported by City News Service in Los Angeles


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