A shooter who gunned down airport screening officers three years ago at Los Angeles International Airport in a terrifying attack that sent frantic passengers running for their lives is scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, to murder and other counts.
Advertisement
Paul Anthony Ciancia, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of murder of a federal officer; two counts of attempted murder of a federal officer; four counts of violence at an worldwide airport; one count of discharging of a firearm during a crime of violence causing death; and three counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, before U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez of the Central District of California.
Ciancia agreed to plead guilty last week to all 11 charges in the shooting and with the plea, he will not get the death sentence.
The gunman, Paul Anthony Ciancia, pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez and 10 other charges stemming from the November 1, 2013, attack motivated by anger over the security measures imposed on airline passengers.
Ciancia’s note said he was a “pissed-off patriot” angry with TSA because he felt the agency treated all USA citizens as terrorists. I didn’t know what to feel.
No sentence, she said, will bring peace or closure to her family.
When quizzed by television reporters the man behind the mask, said: ‘Basically I come to LAX and the next thing I know, I’m going through the terminal.
The evidence against Ciancia was overwhelming, and included a note he wrote saying he was enraged with the airport security checks that USA passengers face. He was armed with a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle he had bought seven months earlier.
The 39-year-old married father of two, fell to the floor but was still moving seconds later when Ciancia looked back.
Ciancia, who was living in the Los Angeles area after growing up in Pennsville, New Jersey, signed the note with his name, adding beneath it, “Pissed-off Patriot”.
The note added, “I want to instil fear in your traitorous minds”.
Hernandez’ wife, Ana Machuca, told The Associated Press last week that she had wanted a death sentence for Ciancia but understood how lengthy that legal process would have been and now supports his lifetime prison sentence. “There isn’t anything anyone can do for us”.
Advertisement
Share with Us – We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article, and smart, constructive criticism.
