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Shooting At Los Angeles Airport — TSA Agent Killed, Several Injured

A shooting at Los Angeles International Airport this morning has left one person dead and several others injured.

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The TSA employees' union has confirmed that a TSA agent died in the shooting — the first ever to be killed in the line of duty. The TSA said in a statement that multiple agents were shot.

Six people were injured and were transported to local hospitals, according to airport officials.

LAX TSA
Screengrab via @WorldofIsaac

Officials said some of the injuries appeared to be "evasion injuries" from people who hurt themselves in an attempt to flee.

Police said during a press conference that the gunman — identified as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia of Los Angeles — had been wounded in a shootout with police and taken into custody.

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He was reportedly found with a note saying he wanted to "kill TSA and pigs."

A "stampede of people" reportedly started running onto the tarmac after the gunfire broke out, according to Fox Sports' Bill Reiter, who was on the scene. Terminals 2 and 3 were evacuated.

Terminals 1 and 2 are being reopened but Terminal 3 will remain closed as investigators remain on the scene.

Arrival and departure roads to the airport were closed following the shooting, according to CBS LA. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at the airport.

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los angeles airport shooting lax
Evacuated passengers wait on the tarmac next to a Southwest Airlines passenger jet after a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport November 1, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian / Getty

Chief of airport police Patrick Gannon gave these details during a press conference:

"An individual came into Terminal 3 of this airport, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire in the terminal. He proceeded up to the screening area where TSA screeners are and continued shooting.

Personnel from the [airport police] responded immediately to the calls. They tracked the individual through the airport and engaged him in gunfire in Terminal 3 and were able to take him into custody."

The incident resulted in 746 flights affected, with 46 being diverted away from LAX. The rest were held on the ground in Los Angeles or at their originating airports, according to airport officials.

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LA Times editor Jimmy Orr tweeted these videos from the scene on the tarmac:

 

Reiter was live-tweeting from the scene with details about the shooting:

LAX shooting tweets
Twitter/@foxsportsreiter
Los Angeles Shooting
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