Suspect shot, in custody at LAX after TSA agent fired upon, killed

Agent killed, others wounded in LA Airport shooting

A U.S. transport agent shot at Los Angeles International Airport has reportedly died, and a suspect is in custody. Parts of the airport were cleared and flights grounded.

• LIVE updates | Pictures
• Police: This was a lone shooter  
• Witness: Mayhem everywhere  
• I heard 'three loud pops'  

  
  

  By Michael Martinez, CNN

  November 1, 2013 -- Updated 1907 GMT (0307 HKT)
  People hide inside a bathroom stall at Los Angeles International Airport after gunshots were reported inside a terminal Friday, November 1.

  HIDE CAPTION

  Gunfire reported at Los Angeles airport

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  STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • NEW: The shooter "pulled an assault rifle out of a bag" and began shooting, police say
  • Suspect, wounded after shooting at TSA agent, is in custody, source says
  • The incident prompted evacuations of parts of the airport
  • There is believed to be a "lone shooter," airport police chief says
  Los Angeles (CNN) -- [Breaking news update, 3:07 p.m.]
  
  (CNN) -- The Los Angeles International Airport shooter "pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire in" Terminal 3 on Friday morning, airport police Chief Patrick Gannon told reporters.
  [Breaking news update, 3:06 p.m.]
  Almost every flight out of Los Angeles International Airport on Friday will be "significantly late," according to Gina Marie Lindsay, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports. The airport is still accepting incoming flights, but doing so at less than half the normal rate, she said. A gunman with an assault rifle opened fire at the airport earlier Friday.
  [Breaking news update, 3 p.m.]
  The gunman who opened fire at the Los Angeles Airport on Friday is believed to be the "lone shooter" in the incident, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said.
  [Breaking news update, 2:53 p.m.]
  A TSA agent shot Friday at the Los Angeles International Airport is dead, according to an intelligence source briefed by Los Angeles police and a federal source.
  [Breaking news update, 2:40 p.m.]
  Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said it received three male victims from Los Angeles International Airport, where shootings occurred Friday. One arrived in critical condition, and two were listed in fair condition, the hospital said. The hospital did not say how they were injured.
  [Breaking news update, 2:35 p.m.]
  A former Los Angeles Police Department ranking officer gave this account of Friday morning's shooting, citing discussions with investigators: The shooter walked to the security checkpoint, pulled out a concealed assault rifle and shot the TSA agent; the shooter then went through the checkpoint, and a police officer shot the shooter. The source arrived at the scene shortly after the incident.
  [Previous update, 2:30 p.m.]
  (CNN) -- A gunman concealing an assault rifle walked up to a Los Angeles International Airport checkpoint and opened fire on a TSA agent Friday morning, but when the gunman passed the security point, he was shot and wounded by a police officer, a former ranking Los Angeles Police Department officer who was at the scene told CNN.
  The gunfire sent travelers into a stampede, passengers said.
  A total of 10 shots were fired, and two people -- the gunman and the Transportation Security Administration agent -- were wounded and taken to local hospitals, an intelligence source told CNN. Their conditions weren't immediately available.
  It was unclear in the immediate aftermath whether there were other suspects.
  The gunman approached a checkpoint at Terminal 3 at 9:30 a.m. and began shooting at the TSA agent, according to the former LAPD officer who was at the scene.
  The gunfire and the airport's announcement of the incident provoked chaos among travelers on a busy morning, passengers said.
  One of the busiest airports in the world was rendered a ghost town: The violence prompted evacuations of portions of LAX and led to a "ground stop" for arriving planes, said police and the Federal Aviation Administration.
  Robert Perez, who was getting ready to take a Virgin Air flight, was taking a nap in the terminal when pandemonium erupted, he told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS.
  "I heard a popping sound, and everybody was diving for cover," Perez told the station. "The TSA said there was a shooting in the terminal and evacuate the building."
  At least 100 people came down a staircase. "Everybody started to panic," Perez said.
  Fox Sports national columnist Bill Reiter was also at the airport during the gunfire. "After the initial burst of gunfire and hiding, people started jumping over one another, jumping off chairs, pushing each other. Chaos & fear," he said on his Twitter account.
  The passengers were directed to board a bus and were taken to a smaller terminal, Perez told the affiliate.
  Alex Neumann was at a food court, waiting to travel to Miami, when the incident unfolded. He said Terminal 2 was put into lockdown.
  "People were running and people getting knocked down. There was luggage everywhere," Neumann said. "Mayhem is the best I can describe it."
  Several police officers moved about the airport with guns drawn, he said. KCAL showed live video of three officers with rifles to their shoulders inspecting parked cars in an open-air parking lot.
  The Los Angeles Fire Department was assisting with a "multi-patient" incident at Los Angeles International Airport, the department said Friday on Twitter.
  Firefighters were laying tarps on the street at the airport, apparently for triage. Several ambulances were at the airport, and at least one person was loaded into one.
  The area around the airport was jammed with cars as police shut down access to the airport Friday morning.
  President Barack Obama has been briefed on the shooting and will continue to be updated, but the White House had no further information at this time on what happened, spokesman Jay Carney said Friday.
  Authorities were interviewing about 100 witness, the intelligence source said.
  A leader of the union representing TSA officers deplored the incident.
  "We are sickened by reports of today's shooting," American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. said.
  CNN's Casey Wian contributed to this report from LAX.
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