Terminals at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) were evacuated briefly and 27 flights were diverted on Sunday night after reports of gunfire that police later determined were incorrect, in the second recent false alarm at a major United States airport. There was no shooting and no injuries.
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Police said the reports of a gunman were spurred by “loud noises”, but airport officials said it was unclear whether the person wearing the Zorro costume had any connection to the incident.
In the NY incident this month, two people reported hearing what they thought were shots fired, law enforcement sources said then.
The man told authorities he arrived at the airport to pick up a passenger and that he often works on Hollywood Boulevard dressed as Zorro, said Maggard.
The man in the Zorro costume said he was at the airport unaware of the panic that ensued inside the airport.
Passengers were seen running from the terminal in widespread panic. By that time, flights were delays and security lines were backed up.
Authorities said all terminals, including the Tom Bradley International Terminal, had been cleared by Los Angeles Airport Police by 10:45 p.m. and passengers were allowed to return.
Airport Police then temporarily closed the upper departures and lower arrival level roads, causing traffic to back up around the airport.
At the Los Angeles airport, the police action and a ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration caused airlines to divert 23 flights, including four global ones, to other airports. “One man was frantic saying there was a shooter”. Ninety minutes after the scare, Landis said he was still waiting for word on his flight. Looking out the window, he said he could see many evacuees gathered on the tarmac, a odd sight even for someone who travels constantly.
“You can imagine hundreds of adults trying to go through an exit door”, he said.
At one point, he picked up his young son and left their luggage.
“People immediately started looking at social media, where they saw reports that there was an active shooter”, Rosenbusch told the AP. Loud noises caused the panic, they said.
Officers and teams with bomb-detecting K-9s searched the terminal area but found no indication of an active shooter, he said.
Police investigating, a post by LA Airport PD read before they concluded the investigation.
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A passenger from Anaheim Hills named Mike said he and his wife were at a baggage claim area in Terminal 7 when they heard orders to evacuate and joined a rush of people crowding onto the sidewalk as uniformed personnel with assault rifles ran into the terminal.
