Transportation Security Administration agent Gerardo Hernandez, 39, was fatally shot Friday at Los Angeles International Airport by a man who expressed “disappointment in the government,” the Los Angeles Times reports. The incident temporarily closed the airport and caused chaos in airline traffic. A second TSA agent was shot. The gunman was identified as Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, a New Jersey native who had been living in Los Angeles.
Ciancia had sent a sibling a text message last week suggesting that he was prepared to die, officials said. It appears Ciancia targeted unarmed TSA agents. Authorities said he approached several people cowering in the airport terminal, pointed his gun at them, asked if they “were TSA,” and then moved on without pulling the trigger if the answer was no. A witness told The Times that the gunman cursed the TSA repeatedly as he moved through the terminal. J. David Cox, president of the union that represents 45,000 TSA flight screeners, called the shooting a “heinous act.”