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Shooting at Los Angeles airport: gunman and TSA agent shot, "multiple people" injured, flights grounded

Xeni Jardin


KTLA television, Los Angeles.

Starting around 9:30 this morning, Los Angeles Times and other news organizations began reporting a shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 3, involving one known gunman. Early reports [erroneously] indicated the shooter “was a TSA employee and was shot dead by authorities.”

Update, 12:17 p.m., LA Times:

A federal law enforcement official said that the gunman was a ticketed passenger entering the airport. Officials don’t believe the gunman has ever worked for TSA. Law enforcement sources had earlier told The Times the gunman was a TSA employee.

The suspect was injured, and taken into police custody. At least one TSA officer was shot and killed. Multiple additional people were injured, some while in the process of trying to escape the shooting.

The shooting began shortly after 9:20 a.m. at Terminal 3, airport spokeswoman Nancy Suey Castles told CNN. The suspected gunman wore fatigues, and carried a bag containing a handwritten note that he wanted to kill TSA employees and “pigs.” The FBI and LAPD have identified the suspect as Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, a resident of Los Angeles.

For some time, all flights were grounded; hundreds of passengers have been stranded at the airport throughout the day. Live video embedded here. Follow the LA Times’ Metro Staff twitter list to see many snapshots of the scene, and video.

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