An active shooter alert at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) caused panic and confusion on Thursday evening leading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order a ground stop after at least 300 passengers ran out of Terminal 1 and onto the airfield.
Some witnesses claim a minor dispute between two passengers resulted in one of them falsely claiming they had a gun. Other passengers in the area shouted about a gun threat which in turn sowed panic throughout the terminal.
Brady Borcherding was a passenger in Terminal 1 at around 7:30 pm on Thursday and described on Twitter how “more than a dozen people at a dead sprint yelled ‘there’s a man with a gun’ and everyone dove behind tables”. Brady continued: “Luggage, laptops, drinks strewn everywhere. Terrifying.”
In what a spokesperson described as a “self-evacuation” of the terminal building several passengers and staff sustained minor injuries with no requiring hospital treatment. A full evacuation was then ordered as law enforcement carried out a sweep of the terminal before allowing passengers to return.
A spokesperson for Los Angeles International Airport said one person had been taken into custody but confirmed that no shots were fired and no gun was ever found.
“At about 7:30 pm tonight (Thursday), there was a report of a person with a fiream in Terminal 1. Approximately 300 passengers self-evacuated from the terminal onto the airfield,” a statement from the airport read.
“Airport police responded and detained one person for further investigation. There were no shots fired and no weapons recovered. During the self-evacuation, two people sustained minor to moderate injuries and were treated by the Los Angeles Fire Department.”
Following a brief ground stop, the FAA has since resumed operations on the south side of the airfield while the TSA sent additional agents to Terminal 1 in order to rescreen all passengers needing to go airside.
