Los Angeles airport halts flights, passengers ‘self-evacuate’ over ‘gun threat’ incident (VIDEOS)

Fears over a ‘firearm’ threat at the Los Angeles International Airport prompted a temporary halt to all flights out of the facility. The airport has since confirmed there was no active shooter, but said one person is in custody.

Airport staff received reports about a “person with a firearm” in one of LAX’s terminals around 7:30pm local time on Thursday, the airport said in a statement, adding that around 300 passengers “self-evacuated” from the terminal onto the airfield after learning of a possible threat. Footage purporting to show the incident has circulated on social media.

According to one passenger who spoke to a local ABC affiliate shortly after the scare, a pilot told other passengers that one traveler believed they spotted a weapon and shouted “Gun!” which may have prompted the hasty evacuation onto the airfield.

While LAX offered few other details about the suspect, it said that airport police “responded and detained one person for further investigation,” and that “there were no shots fired and no weapons recovered.” 

It is unclear why the person was detained or whether any charges have been filed, but the “security incident” nonetheless prompted Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials to initiate a ground stop for all flights out of LAX.

Two people suffered “minor to moderate” injuries during the “self-evacuation” and were treated by the LA Fire Department, the airport said, adding that the FAA has since resumed operations at the south side of the airfield. Additional agents from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were also brought into the terminal in question to help gather up and secure the evacuated passengers.

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