Part of the busy Los Angeles International Airport was closed due to unconfirmed reports of gunfire, airport officials said on Twitter.
Advertisement
NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, who had just arrived at the airport, said passengers were streaming from the terminal buildings.
A search through terminals Sunday night brought no evidence of a gunman or shots fired, Los Angeles police spokesman Andy Neiman said.
Some people inside the airport heard loud noises they knew weren’t gunshots, but it was possible the noises induced some other people to call 911, McClain told KNX 1070. By the time the lockdown was over, there had been 281 flight delays, 27 flight diversions, two flight cancellations, and at least one injury.
Directly following that incident, reports spread of an active shooter in Terminal 8. The man was later released after telling police he was a performer on Hollywood Boulevard and was at the airport to pick up a passenger.
CNN’s Paul Vercammen, reporting from the airport, said the man was involved in cosplay, or costume play.
Various clips posted to social media sites showed the moments immediately following reports of an active shooter at Los Angeles airport last night.
“We are grateful it was not actually an active shooter”, he said.
Los Angeles city police and fire departments said they sent many units to the airport for a security situation.
When the Los Angeles scare began, scores of people could be seen on social media and on TV news running from the terminal out on to the sidewalks and streets as police with rifles out stormed terminals. “Many passengers and employees evacuated onto the airfield and into the Central Terminal Area roadways”.
“We didn’t hear (the loud noise), but people ran towards us yelling”.
Passengers breached security doors and spilled out onto the airport tarmac at around 9 p.m. after word of a shooting threat spread. “Believing the subject was armed with a sword, several Airport Police officers approached him with weapons drawn out of an abundance of caution”, the statement continued. “Airport Police continues to investigate what caused the incident”. Twelve of those flights were diverted to Ontario International Airport.
Advertisement
A crowd of people wait in Terminal 1 where passengers were being rescreened by security at Los Angeles International Airport after reports that a gunman opened fire Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016. The roads were reopened around 10:30 p.m.
