LAX suspect Paul Ciancia walked through the airport terminal with an AR-15 assault rifle in hand, asking people if they were TSA agents.
Those who said no were spared, a witness says.
Ciancia was identified by police as the 23-year-old who walked into Los Angeles International Airport on Friday and opened fire, injuring seven people and killing one TSA agent.
Law enforcement sources said the LAX suspect was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag that contained an assault rifle. A source said he was found with a note that said he wanted to wanted to “kill TSA and pigs.” Other sources said that Ciancia was known to hold strong anti-government views .
Leon Saryan, who was in the terminal when the LAX suspect opened fire, said the man was calculated with who he targeted.
“They told everybody to run toward the gate, and I couldn’t run because I had my shoes and my belt off. So I was trying to gather up my stuff and get going and a TSA worker walked up right behind me and started yetlling, ‘get out of here get down’ there so he grabbed my shoes and I just started running,” Saryan told TMJ-4 in Milwaukee. “And I got halfway down the hall, and I was in the hallway cowering when the guy came through. And he had a rifle in his hand and he looked at me and he said ‘TSA?’ and I shook my head and he just kept going.”
Paul Ciancia was confronted by police shortly after their encounter, Saryan said.
“Shortly after, I saw TSA running after the gunman with pistols,” he said. “I was cowering against the wall. I heard maybe 20 shots. It’s hard to count when you are trying to save yourself.”
Police confronted Ciancia near the airport’s food court, shooting and critically wounding him.
Law enforcement sources said the shooting could have been much worse. LAX suspect Paul Ciancia had three magazines of ammunition for his rifle at the time he was shot, sources said.