Los Angeles Airport Returns To Normal After Unfounded Shooter Report
by Cheryl Rosen /Photo:
A false report of gunfire again caused panic at a major U.S. airport last night, but L.A. is returning to normal this morning.
In a case reminiscent of what happened in New York’s JFK airport two weeks ago, flights into and out of LAX were stopped for about 30 minutes on Sunday night after reports of gunfire caused panicked travelers in several terminals to flee onto the tarmac. With multiple calls coming into police from multiple terminals, all flights were halted, and subsequently all passengers had to again go through security.
Police conducted two sweeps of the airport, including one with K-9s, late Sunday and found nothing, the airport reported.
LAX said that police had responded to a man “dressed in black with a sword, wearing a mask”—but quickly determined that he was "an individual in a Zorro costume" carrying a plastic sword, and released him. “Immediately following” the incident, however, they began receiving word of an active shooter in Terminal 8, and then in other terminals, as rumors began to swirl on social media and people began to panic. Soon they were running for the exits.
During a 30-minute ground stop caused by passengers on the tarmac, 27 flights were diverted. By the time it was all over, 281 flights had been delayed and two canceled.