Above: A terrifying few hours at Los Angeles International Airport, after a lone gunman walked into Terminal 3 and opened fire. Eric Sorensen reports.
VANCOUVER AND TORONTO – Police say a lone shooter opened fire in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Terminal 3 around 9:20 a.m. PT Friday morning.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti confirmed the identity of the suspected gunman as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia.
Speaking at a 4:00 p.m. PT press conference at LAX, Garcetti said Ciancia is suspected of shooting several people inside Terminal 3, leaving several people injured and one person dead.
Garcetti confirmed a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent who was killed in the shooting spree — the first TSA worker killed in the line of duty since the agency was created after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The victim was later identified as 39-year-old Gerardo I. Hernandez.
Garcetti also told reporters another TSA agent was wounded by gunfire
FBI Special Agent David Bowdich said investigators are currently looking into Ciancia’s background.
Bowdich said Ciancia was originally from Pennsville, N.J., but lived in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Police Chief Patrick Gannon said at an earlier press conference the gunman walked into the airport and “pulled a rifle out of a bag and opened fire.”
WATCH: Images of the assault rifle used in the LAX shooting
Gannon said the gunman proceeded up into a screening area and continued shooting as he went past the screening area and further into the airport terminal.
According to Gannon, the gunman made it well past the security screening area and was confronted and detained near a Burger King “far away from the screening area.”
“Police tracked the individual and engaged in gunfire and were able to detain him,” he said.
He did not confirm the injuries of the suspected gunman.
CNN reported an LAPD officer shot the gunman several times in the chest, bringing an end to the chaos.
Gannon said the airport is a federal jurisdiction and the FBI, under Bowdich, is taking the lead on the investigation.
WATCH: Police speak to media about LAX shooting
At the 4:00 p.m. press conference Garcetti said LAX terminals, with the exception of Terminal 3 — which is home to Virgin America and other airlines — were opening as fast as possible.
The attack at the third-busiest airport in the U.S. sent terrified travellers running for cover and disrupted more than 700 flights across the U.S., many of which were held on the ground at LAX or not allowed to take off for Los Angeles from other airports.
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Travellers at LAX tweeted they were being evacuated shortly at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Passengers were reportedly moved to Tom Bradley International Terminal and officials while Terminal 1 and 3 and three secured.
Los Angeles Fire Dept. responders treated seven injured individuals on scene and transferred six of them to hospital, LAFD Chief Tim Featherstone said.
Their injuries were not specified. The Associated Press reported the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said it received “three male victims from the LAX Airport shootings. One arrived in critical condition and two are listed in fair condition.”
Dr. Lynn McCollough, of the UCLA medical centre, told reporters at a separate news conference she would not give details. But she said one individual was in critical condition and two were in fair condition.
All are adult men. Two of the men suffered gunshot wounds, she said. She would not give information about their ages or extent of their injuries.
McCullough said she would not give further information for privacy reasons.
Bowdich later said some of those injured may have been hurt trying to escape the terminal.
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Earlier coverage
At a 12:00 p.m PT press conference at LAX, LAX Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey said the airport is “technically still accepting incoming flights.” But she explained they were only taking about 50 per cent of the arriving traffic and only accepting flights on the south airfield.
Some flights are were diverted to Ontario airport, she said.
Lindsey said people should check with the official LAX Twitter account for the latest, real-time information.
READ MORE: YVR flights not affected by LAX shooting incident
Flight delays and cancellations
The Federal Aviation Administration said a “ground stop” was in effect for all flights heading to Los Angeles, meaning planes in any other airport in the country can’t take off for the city.
– with files from The Associated Press
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