Reports of a gunman opening fire that turned out to be false caused panicked evacuations at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday night, while flights to and from the airport saw major delays. The main terminal was shut down to traffic, Los Angeles Police Department said.
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Los Angeles police said they determined no shots were fired and no one was injured.
But LAX reported that the panic diverted 27 flight in total, and it caused 281 delays and two cancellations.
Roads into the airport were only slowly starting to be reopened, and flights were only slowly resuming again, with massive backup expected for both, officials said.
The official LAX Airport Twitter account also posted that a Zorro-costumed individual had been detained by airport police.
“We are grateful it was not actually an active shooter”, he said.
AP Police officers stand guard as passengers wait in line at Terminal 7 in Los Angeles International Airport, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.
“People evacuated from terminals are allowed back in as they pass through TSA screening”, Badlissi told City News Service.
Video shot by Twitter user Sam Macon showed Airport Police officers approaching the costumed man with weapons drawn.
Police received multiple 911 calls about shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, but no evidence so far of gunman or injuries. Passengers on the tarmac were either bused or directed to safe locations, the airport said.
The whole episode was a mass delusion, set off by a loud noise and, possibly, by a fellow dressed as Zorro. “An investigation, that included review of closed-circuit television footage, revealed that no shots were fired”.
LAPD Commanding Officer of Media relations Andy Neiman tweeted that loud noises in one of the terminals was mistakenly thought to be gunfire. Twelve of those flights were diverted to Ontario International Airport. “Many passengers and employees evacuated onto the airfield and into the Central Terminal Area roadways”.
In the NY incident this month, two people reported hearing what they thought were shots fired, law enforcement sources said then. Someone yelled that he had a sword, which turned out to be plastic.
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Police aren’t sure how the false emergency started, but around 9 p.m. reports of gunfire in three terminals had spread to passengers and sent panicked people running.
