Post-Flight Fears for FOFies

[3WE]

If you survive a nail biting flight, and are told that the ride home is even more dangerous, can you at least enjoy the walk through the terminal?

TSA agent killed in LAX shooting

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES • A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the Los Angeles airport Friday, wounding a Transportation Security Administration employee and two others.

The attack frightened passengers across the bustling airport and disrupted flights nationwide.

LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said the TSA employee was injured and transported to the hospital.

Paysinger says the suspect was armed with a semi-automatic rifle. He was apparently also injured when he exchanged gunfire, though it's unclear what his condition is.

OUR EARLIER STORY:

LOS ANGELES• A suspected gunman was in custody Friday following a shooting at Los Angeles airport that left multiple people wounded and disrupted flights nationwide.

Gunshots were reported at Terminal 3. Los Angeles police Officer Norma Eisenman said the conditions of the injured people were unknown.

She says the suspect also exchanged fire with airport police. The airport was being swept for precautionary measures and the bomb unit was on scene.

Airport staff evacuated travelers and flights were disrupted nationwide.

Television images showed two people being wheeled away by firefighters. Triage stations also were seen.

Witness Brian Keech told The Associated Press he heard "about a dozen gunshots" from inside a security gate at the terminal, which has been evacuated.

The Federal Aviation Administration said a "ground stop" was in affect for all flights heading to Los Angeles, meaning planes in any other airport in the country can't take off for the city, although some flights already in the air were allowed to land.

LAX air traffic controller Michael Foote said some flights were still being allowed to depart.

Foote said his colleagues in the control tower saw passengers spilling from the terminal onto the tarmac, "evacuating the building, getting out as fast as they could." Officers eventually corralled them.

Other travelers described a chaotic scene as airport security staff evacuated terminals, including onto to the tarmac. Hundreds of people remained gathered outside next to airplanes as authorities investigated what happened.

"People started saying there's a shooter, there's a shooter," said Natalie Morin, a senior at USC who was heading to San Francisco for a graduate school interview.

Emergency crews responded to a multi-patient incident, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

Terminal 3 is home to Virgin America and other airlines.