Los Angeles airport partly closed as shooting probe continues

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles International Airport terminal where a gunman opened fire on Friday morning, killing an unarmed airport security officer and wounding others, remained closed to airplane traffic the day after the shooting as authorities probed the motive behind the attack.

Authorities have identified the suspected shooter as Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, and they said he was shot and wounded by police in an exchange of gunfire at the airport’s busy Terminal 3.

The gunman shot at least two Transportation Security Administration employees, one fatally, said Special Agent David Bowdich of the FBI. The slain TSA officer, identified as Gerardo Hernandez, 39, was the first from the agency to die in the line of duty.

Los Angeles police officers will be wearing black mourning bands in memory of Hernandez, Chief Charlie Beck of Los Angeles Police Department said on Twitter.

The Los Angeles airport said on its Twitter feed that it had no timetable for when the FBI would complete its investigation. But it has begun allowing travellers who abandoned luggage and other property as they ran to escape the gunfire to collect their belongings at ticket counters.

Meanwhile the airport said its 100-foot pylons would light the night blue through Sunday in Hernandez’s honour.

“RIP,” the post said.

Several airlines, including Virgin America and Spirit Airlines, warned of delays and cancellations, while another, Frontier Airlines, announced it would operate out of Terminal 2 on Saturday.

Late on Friday, FBI agents armed with a search warrant combed through Ciancia’s home in the Los Angeles area, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Armed with an assault rifle, the shooter touched off panic and chaos at one of the world’s busiest airports. Hundreds of travellers ran for safety or frantically dove for cover behind luggage, and loud alarms blared through the terminal.

Traveller Lauren Stephens, 47, said she had just put her luggage on the scale at the ticket counter in Terminal 3 when she heard a series of gunshots. “Somebody just yelled ‘Run’ at the top of their lungs. … I just left my bag and I just ran like hell. Everybody ran.”

The gunman, a U.S. citizen who appeared to be acting alone, pushed through the screening gates and ran into an area where passengers were boarding flights, before law enforcement officers caught up with him in a food court, Patrick Gannon, chief of the Los Angeles Airport Police, said at a news conference.

The officers shot him at least once and took him into custody, he said.

The FBI late on Friday could not provide the total number of people shot in the attack, Eimiller said. Paramedics took five who were wounded at the scene of the shooting to area hospitals, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said. But they could not say if all of those people had been shot.

The Los Angeles Times reported that among the wounded was Brian Ludmer, 29, who was shot in the leg and works as a high school teacher in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas.

The investigation into the attack will probe the shooting itself as well as the gunman’s background and motivation, Bowdich said on Friday. “Our goal is to do a true scrub on the individual to find out what was the tipping point for this person,” he said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has asked that flags on city buildings be flown at half-staff, local media said.