NEWS BRIEF Reports of a shooter at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday delayed flights and sent panicked passengers fleeing onto the tarmac, but turned out to be false.
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Los Angeles Airport was evacuated Sunday night after reports of gunfire, which like an earlier incident at New York JFK two weeks ago, proved to be a false alarm.
Following a intense search of the areas, an “all-clear” was issued about 9:50 p.m., but a logjam of vehicles and people stranded by the evacuations brought airport operations to a crawl and will require much of the night to untangle, McClain said. Police have now noted that someone called in about the man dressed as Zorro before the call was made about the allegations of shots being fired and the two incidents are believed to be unrelated.
Sam Macon of Los Angeles was waiting for his luggage when he saw the masked man walking through the airport, then noticed police were following him.
The incident came just days after another false alarm led to a panicked evacuation of Kennedy Airport in NY. Security said “shots fired”.
An investigation was under way, Andy Neiman, head of media relations for the LAPD, said in a Twitter message.
CBS Los Angeles reports the man is an actor who was returning from an audition and did not have time to change.
What followed was pandemonium similar to an incident two weeks ago at JFK Airport in NY when a raucous celebration of an Olympics victory may have led to noises people believed were shots.
The ground stop lasted 30 minutes and caused 27 arriving flights to be diverted.
Hundreds of panicked travelers and employees bolted from five of the nine main LAX passenger terminals, some pouring through security gates onto the tarmac and others out of ticketing and baggage areas into the street. The false report caused several delays, cancellations and diverted flights.
Terminals 4, 5, 7 and 8 were evacuated, broadcast reports said.
The central terminal area also remained closed to incoming traffic.
The man claimed that he works for tips posing for photos with tourists on Hollywood Boulevard and was meeting someone at the airport, according to Maggard, who said he did not know if the Zorro character was connected to active shooter scare.
However, a security incident did take place, because people and security forces at the airport precipitated to the exit aria.
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She said the passengers ran to a corner of the domestic departure lounge when they heard people screaming and running for safety.
