Deadly shooting at LAX

(Update)
Dozens of people inside one of the busiest airports in the world had to run for their lives Friday morning after a man walked in, pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and began shooting. One person, 39-year old Gerardo I. Herernandez, who was working airport security, was dead. Flights leaving and going to the airport were significantly affected and that is having an impact on flights to and from Pearson International. For the very latest on what’s happening in Los Angeles, here is Melissa Raftis who has been following the developments from our newsroom all afternoon.

Police say they have a suspect in custody following the shooting that took place in terminal three of Los Angeles International Airport just after 9:30am local time. The Transportation Safety Administration says one of their agents was killed in the shooting.

Reports say the accused is a 23-year-old Paul Ciancia who allegedly wrote a rant about killing transportation safety workers. This has not been confirmed by authorities. Chief of Airport Police Patrick Gannon says a man pulled an assault riffle out of a bag and began shooting into the terminal. He then made his way past the screening area and ended up deep inside the airport where gunfire was exchanged with police. Reports say the gunman was shot in the chest before being taken into custody. Firefighters say there were “multiple” people injured. The airport is being swept for precautionary measures and the bomb unit is on scene. The FBI are leading the charge now on the investigation. The Executive Director of LAX says the airport is still accepting incoming flights but at half the normal rate. And all flights set to depart are expected to be “significantly delayed.”

People stuck on the runway with grounded flights took to twitter positing photos as things unfolded. Dozens of flights were immediately delayed. One Twitter user believes he has taken a photo of a gun on the ground and while it looks as though it was inside a building, this has not been confirmed.

One witness who says he was about 10 to 20 feet away describes what happened following the initial gunshots.

Nick Pugh was a witness: “Everybody just dropped to the ground and started crawling along staying as low as possible But we were pinned between where the guy was shooting and TSA at main security.”

LAX Police Chief Patrick Gannon:  “This individual was shooting as he went into the terminal. The officers didn’t hesitate. They went after this individual and they confronted this individual in our airport and unfortunately it involved an officer involved shooting but that’s what needed to be done in this particular situation.”

While terminal three will be closed indefinitely for the investigation, the FBI says there is no additional threat.