Gunman kills TSA agent, injures 6 others at Los Angeles Airport

USPA News - A gunman carrying a note with `anti-government` views opened fire Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, killing a federal security officer and injuring six other people before being shot by police and being taken into custody, local and federal officials said. The incident began at 9:22 a.m. local time when Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, opened fire at terminal 3 of the nation`s third largest airport.

He appeared to be targeting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees specifically, killing 39-year-old TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez and injuring two others TSA employees. "At 9:20 this morning, an individual came into terminal 3 of this airport, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire in the terminal," said LAX Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon. "He proceeded up into the screening area where TSA screeners are and continued shooting and went past the screeners back into the airport itself." Gannon said Airport Police responded immediately and followed Ciancia through the terminal before engaging him in gunfire, after which he was taken into custody. The bursts of gunfire sent hundreds of terrified travelers running for safety as officials shut down parts of the busy airport, affecting 746 flights by Friday evening. The exact motive for the shooting was not immediately known, but investigators said Ciancia was carrying a note that expressed "anti-government" views. An unidentified law enforcement official, speaking to the Los Angeles Times, said Ciancia expressed his "disappointment in the government" in the note and said he had no interest in hurting "innocent people." U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "concerned" about the shooting and later called TSA Administrator John Pistole to share his condolences and pledge his "utmost support" for the agency. In an email to TSA employees on late Friday, Pistole said the two injured TSA employees were "recovering from their wounds." "No words can explain the horror that we experienced today when a shooter took the life of a member of our family and injured two TSA officers at Los Angeles International Airport," he wrote in the email. "Sadly, today marks the first incident where a TSA officer was killed in the line of duty." Pistole said he planned to travel to Los Angeles on Saturday to meet with the injured employees, family members of Hernandez, and the Los Angeles Airport TSA workforce. "Together, we will get through this. Our faith will guide us and our professionalism will ensure our ability to carry out our mission," he added. The last attack at Los Angeles International Airport happened on July 4, 2002, when Egyptian-American Hesham Mohamed Hadayet opened fire at an El Al ticket counter, killing two people and injuring four others. Hadayet himself was killed in the attack, which officials said was over the U.S. support for Israel.