Suspect In LAX Shooting Charged With Murder: Shooting at Los Angeles Airport Leaves TSA Officer Dead, Three People Wounded

The Wall Street Journal

By Tamara Audi and Nick Pinto


Updated Nov. 2, 2013 10:40 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES—Federal officials charged the 23-year-old suspect in Friday's shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport with two felony counts, including a murder charge that could carry the death penalty if he is convicted.

A Transportation Security Administration officer, 39-year-old Gerardo I. Hernandez, died from gunshot wounds in the attack.

The suspected shooter, identified as Paul Anthony Ciancia, was charged with killing a federal employee. He was also charged with committing a violent act at an airport, which could carry a penalty of life in prison. The shooter's motive was not known but investigators said he intended to kill TSA officers.

Mr. Ciancia was wounded in the ensuing shoot-out with police and remains hospitalized and "unresponsive," federal investigators said.

At least two other TSA officers and one civilian sustained gunshot wounds.

According to an affidavit in support of the complaint filed Saturday, Mr. Ciancia pulled a "Smith & Wesson .223 caliber M&P-15 assault rifle" out of a bag and "fired multiple rounds at point blank range" at Mr. Hernandez, who was stationed at a security checkpoint.

Mr. Ciancia then moved up an escalator toward the screening area but "looked back at the wounded officer…who appeared to move and returned to shoot the wounded officer again," the complaint says.

Mr. Ciancia continued shooting his way past security and through the terminal, investigators said, sending passengers diving to the ground for covering or fleeing the terminal.

Airport police subdued the gunman after a shoot-out in the food court deep inside the terminal, officials said.

Airport officials said 1,550 flights and 167,050 passengers were affected by Friday's incident, which plunged the nation's sixth busiest airport into chaos as passengers fled for their lives when the shooting began.

The airport was expected to returned to normal operations by Saturday evening. Airport officials said the facility would maintain "high profile" security indefinitely, with more officers visible in terminals and at the curbs.

Transportation Security Administration officer Gerardo Hernandez in a photo released by his family Saturday. Associated Press

The airport's famous multi-colored pylons were illuminated blue to honor Mr. Hernandez, the slain TSA officer.

Mr. Ciancia "made a conscious decision to kill TSA officers," said David Bowditch, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles, which is leading the investigation.

According to the complaint, Mr. Ciancia carried a signed, handwritten note saying he wanted to kill TSA officers, that addressed TSA officers directly, saying, in part, that he wanted to "instill fear into your traitorous minds."

The U.S. Attorney General will review the case and decide if the death penalty will be pursued. The same legal protocol was followed in the case against Jared Loughner, who shot former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, and murdered a federal judge. Mr. Loughner, however, struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty in exchange for life in prison.

Federal investigators said they have video tape of some of the incident, but it's unclear where Mr. Ciancia entered the airport. He was dropped off at the airport, but federal officials declined to say whether they know who dropped him off at LAX.

In Mr. Ciancia's hometown of Pennsville, N.J., outside Philadelphia, Police Chief Allen Cummings said he learned of an alarming text Mr. Ciancia sent to family members at 1 p.m. Friday, when Mr. Ciancia's father called.

Pennsville police contacted Los Angeles police, who agreed to check Mr. Ciancia's apartment.

The police chief said he learned from the father that Mr. Ciancia had attended a technical school in Florida, then moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to look for work as a motorcycle mechanic, but had been having trouble finding a job, according to the Associated Press.

Most of the properties on the road where the Ciancias live are relatively small suburban homes on close-packed plots. The Ciancia property is quite large and heavily wooded, with the house invisible from the road.

Mr. Cummings said that Mr. Ciancia's father and brother were at the family home, and told investigators they had no indication Mr. Ciancia was planning anything like this.

"Everybody's just as shocked as we are," Mr. Cummings said. "Obviously they're upset. It's a shock to them, it's a shock to our community." Mr. Cummings said the Pennsville Police Department is assisting the federal investigation.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com