Los Angeles airport evacuated after shots fired

RT
November 1, 2013

Screenshot from RT

A major terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California was evacuated Friday morning after gunshots were reportedly fired near a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

The Los Angeles Times reports that law enforcement officials confirm a man is in custody after allegedly opening fire around 9 a.m. local time Friday.

LAX shooting: LAPD says gunman involved in a shooting is in custody. http://t.co/11dpaf6Fd4 pic.twitter.com/i0QoxrWtAH

— L.A. Times: L.A. Now (@LANow) November 1, 2013

According to a local NBC affiliate, a spokesperson for the TSA said a shooting occurred near a security checkpoint Friday morning.

The Times reports that both a federal agent and a suspect were shot during the ordeal, but these claims have not been independently verified.

Screenshot from RT

Local network ABC 7 also says that several people have been shot, according to an unnamed Los Angeles Police Department source, but an official announcement has not yet been made.

Fox Sports national columnist Bill Reiter was at LAX at the time of the incident and confirmed on Twitter that he heard shots fired.

When gunfire broke out there was a stampede people, all of us hiding under seats we didn’t fit under, we burst through the door to outside.

— Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) November 1, 2013

There are alarms sounding and a police helicopter overhead. People all over the tarmac, getting too close to the planes, being ushered back

— Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) November 1, 2013

The scene now. pic.twitter.com/ZaT1cJtde6

— Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) November 1, 2013

“We were just standing there and someone started shooting,” eyewitness Nick Pugh told the NBC station from the scene. “I heard a total of maybe eight or 10 shots fired.”

LAX serves the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States and is the sixth-busiest airport in the world.

Screenshot from RT