By Blair Tilson & David Adams | Echo
Los Angeles police officers missed visiting the alleged LAX shooter at his LA apartment "by a matter of minutes" before he departed for LAX, according to the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, McCaul said on CNN's Face the Nation Sunday that officers responded to a request from Paul Anthony Ciancia's family to complete a welfare check on Friday in the hours before the shooting. Ciancia's family said they received text messages from Ciancia indicating he intended to harm himself.
Officers went to Ciancia's home to check on the 23-year-old around 9 a.m. (PST) Friday, according to the Times. It was about the same time when one of Ciancia's roommates dropped Ciancia off at the airport. The shooting began at about 9:20 a.m.
Authorities believe the roommate, who was not identified, did not have any knowledge of Ciancia's plans, according to CNN.
The FBI reported that Ciancia was carrying a handwritten note with threats against TSA officials at the time of the shooting, the Times reported. He entered the airport wearing a bullet-proof vest and heavily armed. Ciancia remains hospitalized as of Monday. He was heavily sedated and in critical condition from the injury he sustained during the shooting.
TSA officer Gerardo Hernandez, 39, was killed during the shooting after Ciancia reportedly shot him at point-blank wage, CNN reported. He is the first TSA officer to be killed in the line of duty since the agency was created in 2001.
Two other TSA officers were injured but have since been released from the hospital.
Original Story
A lone gunman shot several people this morning at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), killing a TSA agent and injuring at least six others, according to USA Today.
Senior Austin Kight, who is studying at the Taylor Hollywood Internship Program this semester, went past security just 10 minutes before the shooter came in.
"I was supposed to be heading to Chicago today and got to LAX around 9 this morning (noon Eastern time)," Kight said. "They (the airline) got over the loud speakers saying we couldn't board due to a crew issue and closed the doors."
"Everyone was saying something about a shooting in the next terminal over and they didn't know whether or not there were more gunmen in the airport," Kight said. "There was a lot of commotion and chaos."
Kight has since made it to his final destination in Chicago.
Officials identified the gunman as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia, a U.S. citizen. Ciancia was shot in the face during the shooting and is in custody, but his condition is not known at this time.
As of about 5:40 p.m. EDT, passengers being held in Terminals 1 and 2 were being released, according to the Los Angeles Times. No one is permitted in or out of Terminal 3, where the shooting took place. Thousands of travelers remain stranded at the airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at 4:50 p.m. EDT for all flights that had not yet departed for LAX. Flights en route to LAX were diverted to other airports. Flights that departed from LAX around the time of the shooting were diverted to other airports, including Ontario, where additional security was waiting for the planes' arrival.
The LA Times reports that the airport may resume operations by Saturday morning, but delays will be significant.
