The Los Angeles Police Department is responding to a report that a Transportation Security Administration agent was shot at Los Angeles International Airport. A suspect is now in custody, according to a source, and the fire department reports that seven people were injured. Here are the latest details:
[Updated at 3:58 p.m. ET] TSA Administrator John S. Pistole issued a statement: "I am deeply saddened to inform you that a TSA employee was shot and killed today while on duty at Los Angeles International Airport. Other TSA employees also were injured in the shooting. ... Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been injured and their loved ones."
[Updated at 3:56 p.m. ET] The shooter is not a current or former TSA officer, a federal source and an intelligence source briefed by the LAPD say.
[Updated at 3:53 p.m. ET] The Transportation Security Administration seized 1,556 guns last year at airports around the country, almost double the 2007 total. Through September, the agency has seized 1,343 guns.
This week 29 firearms, 27 of them loaded, were discovered at TSA checkpoints, according to a TSA blog.
[Updated at 3:50 p.m. ET] Based on September traffic totals from LAX, it's estimated that about 177,000 passengers pass through the airport each day.
[Updated at 3:48 p.m. ET] Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has admitted three males from the LAX shooting. One is in critical condition and two are in fair condition, said medical director Lynne McCullough.
She said the wounds were from "gunshot and other injuries as well," she said.
[Updated at 3:32 p.m. ET] An intelligence officer briefed by Los Angeles police tells CNN that the suspect in the LAX shooting was shot multiple times in the chest, "center mass."
[Updated at 3:30 p.m. ET] Nick Pugh told CNN affiliate KTLA he was momentarily handcuffed by police during the chaos following the LAX shooting.
Pugh was standing near the Virgin America Airlines check-in counter when he heard the gunshots.
“Somebody started shooting and everyone dropped to the ground and started crawling,” Pugh told KTLA.
“It was definitely chaos… It was crazy,” Pugh said. “I just saw an emergency exit and ran.”
Police initially handcuffed Pugh, thinking he might be the gunman, he said, but they let him go quickly.
[Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET] Almost every flight out of Los Angeles International Airport 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.
[Updated at 3:06 p.m. ET] "This individual was shooting as he went into the terminal," and police in the airport "didn't hesitate" to confront the suspect, said Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon. He called officers' actions "heroic."
He further said that officers three weeks ago "practiced the exact scenario that played out today" during a training exercise.
[Updated at 3:03 p.m. ET] There were seven people injured, six of whom were transported to area hospitals, said acting Los Angeles Fire Chief James Featherstone.
[Updated at 3:01 p.m. ET] Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says he will not discuss the nature of the injuries or the identification of the suspect. The FBI is handling the investigation, he said.
[Updated at 2:57 p.m. ET] Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said there are "multiple" victims in addition to the suspect.
[Updated at 2:56 p.m. ET] Airport police tracked the suspect through the airport and "engaged him in gunfire in Terminal 3" before taking him into custody, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said, adding there was only one shooter.
[Updated at 2:53 p.m. ET] The gunman had multiple clips for his assault rifle, according to a former LAPD officer, who said one TSA agent was fatally shot and another agent was shot in the leg.
Police are looking for the shooter's car in the parking lot, the former officer said.
[Updated at 2:49 p.m. ET] CNN now has two sources - an intelligence source briefed by Los Angeles police and a federal source - both of whom confirm the TSA agent was killed
[Updated at 2:41 p.m. ET] A federal source briefed by the LAPD confirmed that a TSA officer was killed in the shooting at LAX. The source cautioned that information from the scene is still preliminary.
[Updated at 2:33 p.m. ET] A local hospital released the following statement: "Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center received three male victims from the LAX Airport shootings. One arrived in critical condition and two are listed in fair condition."
We currently have enough blood for the situation at hand. The hospital would appreciate it if members of the community would like to call in early next week to replenish the supply."
[Updated at 2:17 p.m. ET] A former LAPD ranking officer provided further details of the shooting, saying the gunman approached the security checkpoint, pulled out a concealed assault rifle and shot a TSA agent before walking through the checkpoint.
It was then a police officer opened fire, wounding the gunman, the source says.
[Updated at 2:15 p.m. ET] A witness describes the popping noises and screams he heard during the incident.
[Updated at 2:12 p.m. ET] American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. issued a statement saying the union was "sickened" by news of the shooting.
"Our sincerest thoughts and prayers go out to the passengers and Transportation Security Officers killed or injured in this heinous act. Thank you to all of our brave TSOs who put their lives on the line every day to keep the flying public safe," he said.
CNN has not yet verified the condition of the TSA agent.
[Updated at 2:10 p.m. ET] "There was a guy downstairs who started shooting. One guy fell down. Panic erupted,” a witness who gave his name as Alex told CNN affiliate KTLA.
The shooter appeared to have a rifle, Alex said.
https://twitter.com/CBSLA/status/396336829772734465
[Updated at 2:01 p.m. ET] Two people were shot - one of them a TSA agent , the other the gunman, and both have been transported to local hospitals, according to a law enforcement source.
Ten shots were fired, the source said. There were roughly 100 witnesses, all of whom are being interviewed.
[Updated at 1:57 p.m. ET] The Los Angeles International Airport has confirmed, on its Twitter account, that a suspect is in custody.
The airport's post also said there are "multiple victims." Earlier, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN that a suspect was shot and is in police custody.
[Updated at 1:55 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama has been briefed on the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport and will continue to be updated, but the White House had no further information at this time on what happened, spokesman Jay Carney said.
[Updated at 1:53 p.m. ET] Eyewitness Chuck Ocheret says he was at Terminal 3’s gate 30 near a food court. He thinks the gate is close to the checkpoint where the shooting happened.
“I was actually at Gate 30, just walking towards the food court. … I heard a couple of popping noises. I (turned) to look. ... There was a stampede of people coming my way and I realized something was … wrong.”
“People were screaming, ‘Run into the bathroom, get behind something,’ ” he said.
He picked up his carry-on bags, ran down a corridor, came upon the point-of-no return spot (where if you leave, you can’t get back without going through security again). The guard there didn’t appear to immediately know what was going on because he was telling people they couldn't return if they left.
Police then came and told everybody to get down on the floor. They then told everyone to go outside, and police eventually escorted them to the international terminal.
[Updated at 1:50 p.m. ET] The number of people injured is still unclear.
[Updated at 1:48 p.m ET] Kari Watson Told CNN affiliate KABC she was at LAX Terminal 3 with her 3-year-old daughter moments before gunshots rang out.
"All of a sudden we heard people screaming, 'Go, go, go!' and I heard a couple of pops that sounded like gunfire," she said. "People were just running, so we left everything on the ground and we took off."
[Updated at 1:46 p.m. ET] Witness 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 told CNN. "Mayhem is the best I can describe it."
Several police officers moved about the airport with guns drawn, he said.
[Updated at 1:43 p.m. ET] A witness describes the scene after the shooting.
[Updated at 1:40 p.m. ET] A suspect has been shot and is in police custody after a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, a law enforcement source close to the investigation tells CNN.
[Updated at 1:39 p.m. ET] There is a local media report that a large box of ammunition was found at the scene.
[Updated at 1:37 p.m. ET] "The City of Los Angeles is on Tactical Alert due to a major incident occurring at LAX," police tweeted.
[Updated at 1:34 p.m. ET] A former Los Angeles Police Department ranking officer tells CNN a shooter approached the checkpoint and shot a Transportation Security Administration agent.
Multiple shots from a rifle were fired in quick succession, and it's not clear whether the shooter breached the security checkpoint, the source said.
[Updated at 1:33 p.m. ET] "All upper/departures level roadways are temporarily blocked by law enforcement. General public are being held back at law enforcement block," LAX tweeted.
It later sent another tweet: "Other than arriving flights, flight operations have been temporarily held."
[Updated at 1:23 p.m. ET] Firefighters were laying down tarps on the street at the airport, which appear to be triage tarps. Several ambulances are at the airport, and at least one person was loaded into an ambulance.
The area around the airport was jammed with cars as police shut down access to the airport.
[Updated at 1:20 p.m. ET] A "ground stop" has been issued for planes scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.
A ground stop means flights destined for the airport are held at their departure point, according to the FAA.
[Updated at 1:18 p.m. ET] The Los Angeles Fire Department says it is assisting with a "multi-patient incident" at the airport.
[Updated at 1:13 p.m. ET] "After the initial burst of gunfire and hiding, people started jumping over one another, jumping off chairs, pushing each other. Chaos & fear," tweeted Bill Reiter of Fox Sports.
[Updated at 1:10 p.m. ET] Passenger Robert Perez, who was getting ready to fly Virgin Air, was taking a nap in the terminal when panic erupted, he told CNN affiliate KCAL/CBS.
"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.
The passengers were directed to board a bus and were taken to a smaller terminal, he told the affiliate.
[Posted at 1:06 p.m. ET] Police are responding to an incident at Los Angeles International Airport that began at 12:30 p.m. ET at Terminal 3, the airport said on Twitter.
Police earlier said evacuations are under way at the airport after reports of shots fired there.
Sometimes you don't.
NOT "Saris," I wrote SSRIs
Can you print SSRIs?
@Jeff Frank, thanks for the first official warning. Do you often feel that others are attempting to impersonate you? I would never do that, but tell me about the others.
Now to banasys question of me supposedly calling her names. Never did woman. I corrected your blatent falsehoods on obamacare. Get your facts straight before debating me on it. You have your head buried so far up obamas butt you wouldn't know the truth if it smacked u up side the face. Don't call me a name caller when I simply state the facts. I stated that four point two million have been kicked off their insurance. You said I made it up. Then later you conceded with a bunch of spin(typical). Stick to the facts banasy. Facts don't come back to bite you in the rear end sweetie
Good gosh! Four point two million folks have been kicked off their insurance due to obamacare dispite the lies the prez continues to spew. Banasy stated correctly that hundreds of thousands have signed up. Now, which number is bigger? Now these families will be forced to get obamacare at a much much higher price. Said before. This is money coming out of the folks pocket. Sad
How did they pay for their insurance before? And if you are going to make up numbers, make it 30 million. Ramp up the outrage.
I never make up numbers. These are facts that you are either ignorant about or just plain obtuse. Look it up. Don't be scared
Did those numbers come from red states who refuse to expand Medicare coverage, denying coverage to their poor? Or can you speak of the 295 million who have coverage?
* The working poor.
Facts or misrepresentation? Like the four total signed up for the ACA?
@banasy, "then the dead ride fast" if Hagen can change my word so quickly, both in thinking and processing skills.
I had to go research the 4 in Delaware.
I have a worthy opponent in Hagen, don't I, @banasy.
I had napped. I need coffee.
Wow.
I support coverage for the working poor. If that's Medicaid, by any name, good.
Hagen may wound me, even greatly, but he knows that to kill me would destroy the chess board. Maintenant, du cafe'.
Um California is not a red state last I checked. They are one of the states getting hit the hardest with dropped insurance dispite the lies Obama continues to spread. Dang woman. Would you get your facts straight please. Getting tired of correcting you at every turn. Is ignorance bliss?
Do you find it difficult to answer questions without insulting me? Because your inability to do so speaks volumes of where your mind is at.
And California's state exchange is doing fantastic. I do not know where you get your talking points from, but they are doing you a disservice.
@Just Giulio, uh, Julio,
Giu are so right, man. Where did you learn to say, "good gosh?" That is so easily assimilated. How much were you paying for insurance before you came here?
First, I apologize to Julio for joking about his accent and his probably being new here. It was very incentive of me, bit I intended no malice. Please forgive me.
I wrote insensitive. My cellphone changed it to incentive.
JIF, one word: Hagen.
i checked some numbers. I found one report that "over two million" had lost insurance, and
That report avoid an actual number of Medicaid enrollees by giving a 90 percent figure. Let me assume that figures supplied by @banasy and others are correct. (Cont.'
Inability to contact the website prevented my continuing my line of reasoning.
In principle, I support an inclusive national health-care system. Under the best planned system, the premiums of some customers would rise for care provided. Many uninsured would acquire insurance.
I wonder how the ACA would've read without the 161 amendments Republicans inserted into it. Compromise is not a word they visit often.
At the day's end, a decision has to be made on the morality of excluding some from health insurance.
My mother vaguely remembers the fight for SS. She says the level of animosity was as bad as it is today; perhaps more so now with the media being what it is.
I remember people weeping on the streets the day FDR died.
My take, banasy, is that the opposition to SS would have been stronger from that time's citizens. I don't know. Today, we've seen more social programs.
When I was born, doctors prospered without the elaborate, lucrative insurance industry we support today. All of the MD's whom I knew gave almost free care to their poorest patients. Sometimes they were paid in baskets of eggs.
"I'm so glad we had this time together," to ponder. I go away reminded that there is no perfect world, on earth. There was great beauty in healing, as provided to the poor before insurance.
Yes, we know.
I saw your interview from 2010. I saw the hate. I understand your pathos much better, now.
Who me?
My reply didn't post. I guess Hal enjoyed it.
@banasy,
How...no, I can't ask that.
@banasy, @Hagen, y'all're giving me a lot of research, and I'm trying to keep up. I scanned the above in summary for now, and I understand more. The banasy v. ______ feuds are more understandable now, so thanks to both of you.
Good morning folks.
I agree with @JI-F. I have seen the time before this massive scam concocted by Insurance & big Pharma. Doctors did earn & lived well and had that rapport with their patients which was half the treatment.
Access to affordable health care, like protection of life & property, education , pursuit of happiness and such is a right not a privilege.
Some how we have reached a stage where its become a monstrous and convoluted fearsome system.