Deadly LAX shooting: Why did he do it? - CNN

[Diablo]

• The TSA officer killed was Gerardo Hernandez, 39, the agency says
• Official: Info on the suspect indicates anti-government sentiment
• He allegedly shot three people, one fatally, before being shot himself

Los Angeles (CNN) -- It was unclear early Saturday when Los Angeles International Airport's terminal 3 would reopen after the bloodshed and panic.
Also not clear was why a 23-year-old man, identified by the FBI as Paul Anthony Ciancia, stormed that area Friday.
But it's apparent that the suspect, who sent travelers fleeing and paralyzed one of America's busiest airports, was armed and dangerous.
He had enough ammunition to "have literally killed everyone in that terminal," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
Whatever the reason, the suspect, armed with what police say was an assault rifle, opened fire, killing one and sending dozens scattering before he was wounded and captured.
One clue to the suspect's intentions came from witnesses of the mayhem.
Some said the gunmen asked people, "Hey, are you TSA?" -- the acronym for the Transportation Security Administration. If they said "no," he would move on.
One of those questioned travelers was Leon Saryan. He told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the same man he'd just seen shoot a TSA officer "calmly" walked toward him and asked, "TSA?"

Police officers and emergency response officials meet outside Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport after gunshots were reported inside the terminal on Friday, November 1.

Transportation Security Administration employees hug outside Terminal 1.

This photo, from Terminal 3, shows what appears to be a weapon on the ground. Police said a man "pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire" Friday, killing one person and injuring others before being shot and taken into custody.

Law enforcement officers gather in Terminal 3 near the scene of the shooting.

Passengers sit on a luggage conveyor belt behind check-in kiosks in Terminal 1.

Police check the area around Terminal 1.

Passengers evacuate the airport after the incident, which airport officials said began about 9:30 a.m. The gunfire and the airport's announcement of the incident provoked chaos among travelers, passengers said.

People hide inside a bathroom stall at the airport after the gunshots were reported.

Thousands of travelers were delayed after the incident closed the airport for hours.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck talks with other responders at the airport Friday.

A police officer closes a road at the airport. The area around the airport was jammed with cars Friday morning as police shut down access.

Police officers stand guard atop Terminal 3.

Passengers are directed outside Terminal 2.

A family walks through a tunnel as they leave the airport.

Passengers evacuated from Terminal 1 wait outside the airport.

"People were running and people (were) getting knocked down. There was luggage everywhere," traveler Alex Neumann said. "Mayhem is the best I can describe it."

People wait in a terminal after flights were grounded because of the incident.

Passengers wait on the curb after leaving the airport.

A police officer directs traffic.

The gunfire reports led to a "ground stop" for arriving planes, said police and the Federal Aviation Administration.

A police officer diverts traffic trying to enter the airport.

First responders and emergency vehicles arrive at the airport.


Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport
Gunfire at Los Angeles airport

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Photos: Gunfire at LAX

A look at the security response at LAX

LAX police: This was a lone shooter

LAX witness: I heard 'three loud pops'
"I just shook my head," Saryan said. "And he kept going."
Authorities found information on the suspect expressing anti-government sentiment and anger at the TSA specifically, according to a the federal law enforcement official.
An officer killed
The TSA officer killed was the first employee of that relatively new agency to be killed in the line of duty. The agency identified him as Gerardo Hernandez, who would have turned 40 next week. He was working as a travel document checker at the time of the shooting, according to TSA workers' union and federal sources.
Two other TSA officers were also shot, one in the leg, authorities said.
The suspected gunman was detained after being shot in the chest multiple times, according to an intelligence source briefed by Los Angeles police. As of Friday evening, he was receiving medical attention at a hospital, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge David Bowdich.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said that it received three male victims -- one in critical condition and two in fair condition. One of the two in fair condition suffered gunshot wounds, while another had an unspecified injury, said Dr. Lynne McCullough, an emergency physician at the Los Angeles hospital. One of them was released by Friday afternoon; one of the others who remained at the hospital was Ciancia, according to the intelligence source.
Family concerns
Another clue to Ciancia's state of mind came from his family. He lives in Los Angeles, but his family back in New Jersey were concerned about him, said Allen Cummings, chief of police in Pennsville, New Jersey.
Ciancia's family became concerned in recent days after he sent his brother and father "angry, rambling" texts venting about the government, living in Los Angeles and his unhappiness generally, an intelligence source said.
But despite the unsettling text, Ciancia's family was still surprised by Friday's events.

Face-to-face with LAX gunman

Video shows chaos inside LAX

LAX witness: Not too soon to discuss guns
"They're upset," Cummings told reporters. "I mean this is a shock to them, it's a shock to our community."
Terror in the terminal
The shooting caused what airport police Chief Patrick Gannon described as a "large amount of chaos."
People ran for their lives and took shelter wherever they could as authorities pursued the gunman.
Chuck Ocheret was among those in the busy airport when he heard two "loud pops."
"Then I heard this mad rush of people, and there was a stampede of people coming from this direction," Ocheret said. "Nobody really knew what was going on."
An otherwise normal day in the airport's Terminal 3 turned upside down around 9:20 a.m. (12:20 p.m. ET), as the suspect approached a checkpoint.
There, he "pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire," Gannon said.
Passenger Saryan had just cleared the TSA checkpoint and was reaching for his shoes and belt when shots rang out, prompting "everybody (to) hit the ground and ... run." A TSA officer grabbed Saryan's shoes and started running alongside him, before the gunman grazed the officer with a bullet.
"I went and cowered in a corner," Saryan said.
The suspect kept moving down Terminal 3, equipped with three magazines for his weapon, according to the intelligence source briefed by Los Angeles police. He began running down Terminal 3.
He had company. Gannon said two officers from his department responded "within seconds after the shooting started" and ran off in pursuit of the suspect.
Traveler Vernon Cardenas was sitting at one end of the terminal, when he heard noise and saw a mass of people running toward him. He and others bolted through a kicked-open exit door and ran onto the tarmac -- believing it was safer there.
The circular area where Cardenas had been is where the bloodshed finally ended with the gunman's shooting by law enforcement, according to the intelligence source. They didn't take any chances with the wounded suspect either, handcuffing him to a gurney as he was being carried out. Authorities said they found more than 100 rounds of unspent ammunition.
The gunfire was so unexpected and sudden that many panicked passengers ran out of the terminal to safety, leaving their belongings behind.
LAX officials tweeted that passengers would be able to return some time Saturday to pick up the items they discarded in the chaos.
But that time was yet to be determined.
CNN's Michael Martinez reported and wrote from Los Angeles, and CNN's Greg Botelho did the same from Atlanta. CNN's Chelsea J. Carter, Casey Wian, Deborah Feyerick, Paul Matadeen, Kyung Lah and Carey Bodenheimer contributed to this report.