By TAMI ABDOLLAH and JUSTIN PRITCHARD
In this photo provided to the AP, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, police officers stand near an unidentified weapon in Terminal 3 of the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Officials said a gunman who opened fire in the terminal was wounded in a shootout with police and taken into custody. (AP Photo)
LAX Shooting
SWAT officers search a parking structure during a security check at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LAX Shooting
In this video frame grab provided by KTTV Los Angeles, emergency workers prepare to transfer a wounded Transportation Security Administration officer to a waiting ambulance after a shooting in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. A man pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at the airport on Friday, killing a TSA officer and wounding at least three others, authorities said. (AP Photo/KTTV) MANDATORY CREDIT
Pail Ciancia
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Authorities say Ciancia pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at the airport, killing a security officer and wounding other people. Ciancia was injured in a shootout and taken into custody, police said. (AP Photo/FBI)
LAX Shooting
In this aerial video frame grab provided by CBS-LA, fire and rescue personnel gather at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/CBS-LA)
LAX Shooting
In this photo provided by Tory Belleci which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people wait in Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Tory Belleci)
LAX Shooting
In this photo provided by John Forstrom, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people walk across the tarmac after being evacuated from Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports.(AP Photo/John Forstrom)
LAX Shooting
Police stand guard outside Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding two other people. Flights were disrupted nationwide. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LAX Shooting
In this photo provided by Natalie Morin, people stand on the tarmac after being evacuated from Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, in Los Angeles, after shots were fired at Terminal 3, prompting authorities to evacuate the terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Natalie Morin)
LAX Shooting
Passengers walk with their luggage on a city street outside Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013 after shots were fired in Terminal 3, prompting authorities to evacuate terminals and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
LAX Shooting
In this photo provided by John Forstrom, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people wait on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports.(AP Photo/John Forstrom)
LAX Shooting
People run towards Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 1, 2013, after the terminal was reopened. A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and wounding others. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
LAX Shooting
Fire, rescue and police personnel gather at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov.1, 2013. Shots were fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
LAX Shooting
Passengers are directed outside Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday Nov. 1, 2013, after shots were fired, prompting authorities to evacuate a terminal and stop flights headed for the city from taking off from other airports. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
APTOPIX LAX Shooting
This photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. Ciancia carrying a note that said he wanted to “kill TSA” pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013 killing one Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding two others, authorities said. (AP Photo/FBI)
Prev
1 of 15
Next
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man carrying a note that said he wanted to “kill TSA” pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot his way past a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing one Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding two others, authorities said.
The gunman was wounded in a shootout with airport police and taken into custody, authorities said. His condition was not disclosed.
The attack at the nation’s third-busiest airport sent terrified travelers running for cover and disrupted hundreds of flights across the U.S., many of which were held on the ground at LAX or not allowed to take off for Los Angeles from other airports.
The TSA late Friday identified the slain officer as Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39. He is the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty in the 12-year history of the agency, which was founded in the aftermath of 9/11.
Friends and neighbors remembered the Los Angeles man as a doting father of two and a good neighbor went door-to-door warning neighbors to be careful after his home in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles was burglarized.
“It’s devastating because he was such a great guy,” Kevin Maxwell, a friend and former TSA co-worker at the airport, told KNBC-TV. “All he talked about was his family. He was very proud of his son, who played football.”
He also had a daughter, Maxwell said.
The FBI and Los Angeles Airport Police identified the gunman as Paul Ciancia, 23, of Pennsville, N.J. He had apparently been living in Los Angeles for about 1 ½ years.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly, said Ciancia was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a one-page handwritten note that said he wanted to kill TSA employees and “pigs.”
The official said the rant refers to how Ciancia believed his constitutional rights were being violated by TSA searches and that he’s a “pissed-off patriot” upset at former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The note and the gunman’s rifle each had an orange TSA inspection sticker on it.
Ciancia had at least five full 30-round magazines on him, said the official, who was briefed at LAX on the investigation. The official said Ciancia was shot in the mouth and leg by two airport police officers. Another official briefed on the incident at LAX who could not speak publicly said the gunman had been shot four times but was “stable” when he was transported to the hospital.
Early Friday afternoon, Ciancia’s father in New Jersey had called authorities for help in finding his son after the young man sent one of his siblings a text message about committing suicide, Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings said.
The chief said he called Los Angeles police, which sent a patrol car to Ciancia’s apartment. There, two roommates said that they had seen him Thursday and that he was fine, according to Cummings.
Cummings said that the Ciancias — owners of an auto body shop — are a “good family” and that his department had had no dealings with the son.
People who knew Ciancia said they were shocked that he was the alleged gunman.
Ciancia’s former roommate in Los Angeles, James Mincey, said he appeared to be unemployed but never showed any disturbing qualities, such as a fascination with guns.
He spoke to Sciansia last week.
“He said he was going back to Jersey, going to work for his dad, and making amends with family problems…and spending holidays with his family,” Mincey told KABC-TV.
Ciancia had been into a next-door restaurant called The Morrison several times, owner Marc Kreiner said.
“He was kind of a quiet guy, came in mostly by himself,” Kreiner told the Los Angeles Times.
The attack began around 9:20 a.m. when the gunman pulled an assault-style rifle from a bag and began firing inside Terminal 3, Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said. The terminal serves such airlines as Virgin America, AirTran, Spirit Airlines, Horizon Air and JetBlue.
The gunman then went to the security screening area, where he fired more shots and went into the secure area of the terminal, Gannon said. Officers exchanged fire with him and seized him, Gannon said.
As gunfire rang out, panicked travelers dropped to the ground. Those who had made it past security ran out of the terminal and onto the tarmac or took cover inside restaurants and lounges.
“We just hit the deck. Everybody in the line hit the floor and shots just continued,” said Xavier Savant, who was waiting in the security line where the shooting took place. He described it as a “Bam! Bam! Bam!” burst of gunfire.
Savant said people bolted through the metal detectors and ran into the terminal.
“My whole thing was to get away from him,” said Savant, an advertising creative director who was heading to New York with his family for a weekend trip.
Just a few weeks ago, airport police and the Los Angeles Police Department had jointly trained for a similar shooting scenario, according to Gannon, who said officers told him the drill was critical in preparing them for the real thing.
While Terminal 3 remained closed, much of the rest of the airport continued operating, though with some disruptions. Some LAX-bound flights that were already in the air were diverted to other airports.
Throughout the day, an estimated 1,550 scheduled arriving and departing flights with around 167,000 passengers were affected, according to the airport. That included 86 arriving flights that were diverted to other airports.
The ripple effect was felt across the country and especially around the airport, where hundreds of stranded passengers streamed into nearby hotels, rolling bags behind them down roads absent of car traffic.
The officer who was killed was one of the behavioral detection officers that are stationed throughout the airport, looking for suspicious behavior, said J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Initially, Cox said at least three other TSA officers were wounded. Later in the day, the TSA said two other officers were wounded. Their conditions were not disclosed.
The Los Angeles Fire Department revised its total number of victims taken to hospitals from six to five, saying one had been double counted. Those numbers included Hernandez, Ciancia and one person who broke an ankle.
Ben Rosen was sitting at a Starbucks in the terminal eating oatmeal when he heard gunfire erupt and saw people running in all directions or crouching. He grabbed his phone and tried to lie as flat on the ground as he could.
Police showed up with guns drawn, shouting, “This is not a drill! Hands up!”
People put their hands up and then were led out of the terminal to the adjacent international terminal, Rosen said. As they were led out they saw broken glass from a window that looked as if it had been shot out. Rosen left his bag behind.
It was not the first shooting at LAX. On July 4, 2002, a limousine driver opened fire at the airport’s El Al ticket counter, killing an airline employee and a person who was dropping off a friend at the terminal. Police killed the man.
