A false report about a gunman on the loose at the Los Angeles International Airport caused panic among passengers, sending some fleeing onto the airport's tarmac.
According to investigators, the false report has been attributed to a person within the terminal area of the LAX, and not on police officers or on officials of the airport.
The incident occurred at around 9 a.m. on Feb. 16 after police officers chased a motorist and arrested him outside Terminal 2 after the man apparently attempted to commit suicide inside his vehicle, the authorities reported.
According to the police officers of the airport, a person within the terminal's gate area publicly announced that there was a gunman on the loose in the airport. The false announcement prompted dozens of screened flight passengers to run from inside the terminal to the tarmac through the facility's emergency exits and stairways.
By the afternoon, the authorities said that they have not yet determined who the person is that made the false announcement, but that they are continuing to identify the individual.
The start of the incident was due to police officers responding to a possible attempt by the motorist to commit suicide right outside the building for Japan Airlines Cargo, located in the 6000 block of the Imperial Highway to the south of LAX.
A citizen called up the authorities after seeing a car parked with a garden hose connected to the vehicle's exhaust pipe that ran into a passenger window in the rear.
According to the authorities, the police officers that responded to the scene saw that the man inside the car was in the middle of writing up a suicide note upon their arrival. When the officers attempted to help the man, he started to drive away.
The officers chased after the unidentified individual into the roads of the airport, where the man finally ended the pursuit by stopping at the front of the LAX Terminal 2 along the upper roadway of the level for departures.
The police arrested the man, and firefighters accompanied him to a hospital to be evaluated and treated.
The flight passengers that ran onto the airfield were monitored, according to the police. The passengers then walked back to the terminal area to catch their flights.
By late in the morning, the operations within the terminal area were already back to normal, according to authorities.
There have already been previous instances of gun violence at the LAX. In November of 2013, a man shot and killed a screening agent for the Transportation Security Administration, along with wounding three other people. The suspect, Paul Ciancia, is currently facing federal charges that could earn the death penalty.
