Los Angeles Airport Shooting Kills 3

July 4, 2002

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A gunman opened fire Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport near the ticket counter of Israel's El Al Airlines, officials said, killing two people and wounding at least three before airline security personnel killed him.

The gunman opened fire around 11:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. EDT) near the El Al ticket counter inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal, a separate building from the terminals used for domestic flights, officials said.

LAPD spokesman Alex Baez said the gunman shot dead a woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s. Another woman was shot and wounded; a man was stabbed in the back, and another man was pistol-whipped by the gunman. Two other men were taken to the hospital for "cardiac issues," Baez added.

Baez said police were investigating the possibility that another attacker was involved.

Lt. Horace Frank, another LAPD spokesman, said two people were being questioned by investigators in connection with the incident, and a "massive investigation" was under way.

The attack occurred after days of warnings by federal officials about possible terrorist attacks on U.S. targets during the Independence Day holiday. But both local and federal authorities said it was too early to say whether terrorists were to blame for Thursday's shooting.

"We have no information that indicates that this incident is connected to any terrorist event or anything else, but the matter is under investigation right now," Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn said.

Added Richard Garcia, the FBI agent in charge of the bureau's Los Angeles office, "Right now, we're looking at it as an isolated incident." And a Bush administration source told CNN, "There's no other intelligence that would speak to the contrary ... We don't have anything to suggest this is anything other than a criminal act."

However, FBI Special Agent Matthew McLaughlin said, "At this point, it's too early to rule out anything."

El Al known for tight security

El Al is the Israeli national carrier. It is known for its strict security measures. In the Bradley terminal, its ticket counter is in one of two banks of counters for a number of international airlines.

The Tom Bradley International Terminal -- which is a separate building from the domestic terminals -- was shut down after the shooting, Baez said. Everyone inside was evacuated: Thousands of people were seen streaming out of the terminal, and traffic was stopped outside.

Thad Weimlein, who was checking into his flight on Korean Air, heard an initial barrage of between eight and 10 shots before it paused. Then the firing resumed, he said.

"People were running and screaming and hitting the floor," Weimlein said. "There were a number of plainclothes policemen who pulled out their guns and badges at the same time."

After it was over, officers asked everyone in the area of the international ticket counters to file outside, he said.

Police cars, ambulances and fire engines lined the road. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said air traffic for domestic flights at the airport continued to operate normally.

In December 1985 at the El Al airport ticket counter in Rome, terrorists threw grenades and opened fire with semi-automatic weapons, killing 17 people and wounding more than 100.

The last shooting at a U.S. airport was in May when a Pensacola, Florida, man opened fire at a ticket counter at the main airport in New Orleans, killing one person and wounding another.

Authorities said Patrick Gott, a Muslim man who was charged in the shooting, told them he opened fire because people had made fun of his turban at a restaurant shortly before he went to the airport.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/04/la.airport.shooting/index.html