Washington, Nov 2 (IANS) A gunman shot and killed a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker at Los Angeles International Airport Friday before himself being shot and taken into custody, media reports said.
At least two people, including a second TSA employee, were wounded, NBC News reported citing federal authorities. But it was not clear whether the shooter was among the injured.
President Barack Obama has been briefed on the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport and will continue to be updated, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. But the official said he had no further information on what happened at the moment.
The shooting happened at about 9.20 in the morning (9.50 p.m. India time) at Terminal 3 at a screening station where fliers show their IDs and boarding passes, NBC News said citing Nico Melendez, a TSA spokesman.
The agent was shot in the leg, he said. The shooter appeared to have a rifle or other long gun, the channel said citing witnesses and police.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights taking off from Los Angeles and those that were bound for Los Angeles and had not already taken off.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is assisting with a “multi-patient” incident at the airport, CNN reported.
Firefighters were laying down tarps on the street at the airport, which appeared to be triage tarps. Several ambulances were at the airport, and at least one person was loaded into an ambulance.
The area around the airport was jammed with cars as police shut down access to the airport Friday morning
Nick Pugh told NBC Los Angeles that he was waiting in line for security on the upper mezzanine when he heard eight to 10 shots.
“We were just standing there in line and somebody started shooting,” he was quoted as saying. “Everyone dropped to the floor and started crawling along the ground, abandoning their suitcases.”