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Panic at Los Angeles airport after noise mistaken for gunfire

This article is more than 7 years old

People flee LAX and police storm building but search reveals no evidence of a gunman or shots fired

False reports of a gunman opening fire caused panicked evacuations at Los Angeles international airport on Sunday night, while flights to and from the airport were delayed.

A search through the terminals revealed no evidence of a gunman or shots fired, Los Angeles police spokesman Andy Neiman said. The reports were caused by loud noises and police were investigating their source, Neiman said.

Terminals were starting to reopen on Monday morning but passengers who fled will be rescreened through security, airport police said. Officials said they expected a massive backlog as flights slowly resume.

When the incident began, scores of people could be seen on social media and on TV news reports running from the terminal out on to streets as police with rifles stormed the building. Many other evacuees were standing on the airport tarmac and abandoned bags littered some pavements.

Scott McDonald said he was getting off a plane in the middle of the incident and was told by the crew to get back on. He said looking out of the window he could see many evacuees gathered on the tarmac.

“I’ve never seen passengers, just normal people, on the tarmac anywhere in the United States,” McDonald told KCAL-TV.

Leyna Nguyen, an anchor for KCAL whose flight arrived just before the panic began, said even false reports “create such a chaotic scene, it’s really scary”.

She said: “I saw people running faster than I’ve ever seen people run just to get out of the way.”

It came just days after another false alarm led to a panicked evacuation of John F Kennedy airport in New York. In that incident, police were investigating whether a boisterous celebration of the Olympics on 14 August led to noises that were misinterpreted as gunfire, with the ensuing reaction turning into panic as crowds ran to evacuate.

There was a shooting at Los Angeles airport in November 2013, when a man opened fire in the terminal, killing a security agent and wounding three other people.

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