Shots Fired at LAX … TSA Agent Killed … People Run for their Lives, Gunman Shot and Down, but Alive … (Update: Gunman ID’d as Paul Anthony Ciancia) (Update: Ciancia Charged with Murder)

SHOTS FIRED AT LAX …

Shots were fired at Los Angeles International Airport Friday morning at 9:20 am local time at terminal 3. The gunman took a semi-automatic rifle with a reported 150 rounds of ammunition from out of a bag and starting firing in the area just before the TSA screening area.  At the TSA check point, unarmed TSA officers were shot. It is reported that one TSA officer has been killed. The gunman then pursued past the TSA check point down into the secured area of the airport as terrified airport travelers ran for their lives. There was complete panic as people were screaming as they ran to get away and hide from the gunman. Passengers actually ran onto the airport tarmac to protect themselves and get away.

VIDEO of passengers running for lives from CNN via TMZ

After making it hundreds of feet into the terminal, the gunman is shot multiple times. Gunman down, but alive. The suspect has been arrsted and is in police custody. It is not known what the gunman’s motive was. Of course we will most likely later find out that insanity and mental issues don’t have a motive.  In all, six other people were injured, including three TSA officers, and taken to nearby hospitals. However, one TSA officer was killed during the mass shooting. He has been identified as  39 year old Gerardo I. Hernandez,  who has been with the TSA since 2010. Our heart felt condolences to his family. According to the TSA, Hernandez is the first officer to have been killed in the line of duty in the agency’s 12-year history.

VIDEO – CNN

UPDATE I: The gunman has been identified as 23 year old Paul Anthony Ciancia.

Ciancia, 23, is believed to be from Pennsville, N.J., however authorities said he has a residence in Los Angeles.

Witnesses described Ciancia as a short, young, white man, carrying a long-rifle.

One of the shooting victims was a TSA officer who died of his wounds. The officer was a behavioral detection officer, assigned to identify passengers acting strangely, said J. David Cox, president of the AFGE, the officers’ union.

The TSA confirmed the identity of the officer killed as Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39, who has been with the TSA since 2010.

23 year old  Paul Anthony Ciancia

UPDATE II: LAX shooting spree: TSA worker dead after assault-type rifle rampage inside Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 3.

UPDATE III: From CBS News, Ciancia had anti-government views & AP reporting gunman had a hand-written note with him that said he “wanted to kill TSA and pigs.”

CBS2′s David Goldstein reports that Ciancia sent a text message to a family member in New Jersey early Friday in which  he threatened to kill himself. His father called local police in New Jersey, who called Los Angeles police. According to the local police chief, the LAPD sent a car to his apartment. His two roommates said they hadn’t seen him since Thursday and that he was fine

UPDATE IV: Suspect in LAX shooting apparently had suicidal thoughts before attack.

The man suspected of killing a Transportation Security Administration employee and injuring at least six people in Friday’s shooting at Los Angeles International Airport apparently had suicidal thoughts before the attack, authorities said.

The family of Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, told Pennsville, N.J. Police Chief Allen Cummings early Friday afternoon that Ciancia had mentioned taking his own life in a text message to his younger brother, the chief told The Associated Press.

UPDATE V: Paul Anthony Ciancia Charged with Murder …

The unemployed motorcycle mechanic suspected in the deadly shooting at the Los Angeles airport set out to kill multiple employees of the Transportation Security Administration and hoped the attack would “instill fear in their traitorous minds,” authorities said Saturday.

Paul Ciancia was so determined to take lives that, after shooting a TSA officer and going up an escalator, he turned back to see the officer move and returned to finish him off, according to surveillance video reviewed by investigators.

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Federal prosecutors filed charges of first-degree murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport. The charges could qualify him for the death penalty.