A man armed with what police say was an assault rifle and carrying materials expressing anti-government sentiment opened fire Friday morning at Los Angeles International Airport , killing one person before being chased down himself , authorities said . Eyewitnesses said the suspect asked people , `` Hey , are you TSA ? '' -- the acronym for the Transportation Security Administration -- according to a federal law enforcement official . If they said `` no , '' he would move on . One of those questioned travelers was Leon Saryan . He told CNN 's Anderson Cooper that the same man he 'd just seen shoot a TSA officer `` calmly '' walked toward him and asked , `` TSA ? '' `` I just shook my head , '' Saryan said . `` And he kept going . '' In the aftermath of the shooting , investigators found information on the suspect expressing not just anti-federal government sentiment but also anger at the TSA specifically , according to the federal law enforcement official . By then , a TSA officer was dead -- the first employee of that relatively new agency to be killed in the line of duty . The agency identified him as Gerardo Hernandez , who would have turned 40 next week . He was working as a travel document checker at the time of the shooting , according to TSA workers ' union and federal sources . Two additional TSA officers were also shot , one in the leg , authorities said . The suspected gunman himself was detained after being shot in the chest multiple times , according to an intelligence source briefed by Los Angeles police . As of Friday evening , he was receiving medical attention at a hospital , according to FBI Special Agent in Charge David Bowdich . He was identified later by the FBI as Paul Anthony Ciancia , a 23-year-old from Los Angeles . He graduated in 2008 from Salesianum School , an all-boys Catholic school in Wilmington , Delaware , according to school President Brendan P. Kennealey . The intelligence source said Ciancia 's family became concerned in recent days after he sent his brother and father `` angry , rambling '' texts venting about the government , living in Los Angeles and his unhappiness generally . Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said that it received three male victims -- one in critical condition and two in fair condition . One of the two in fair condition suffered gunshot wounds , while another had an unspecified injury , said Dr. Lynne McCullough , an emergency physician at the Los Angeles hospital . One of them was released by Friday afternoon ; one of the others who remained at the hospital was Ciancia , according to the intelligence source . Two patients , meanwhile , were transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance , said David Klurad , a trauma surgeon there . One was what Klurad described as a `` middle-aged '' person with minor injuries from being shot in the shoulder . The other had no signs of life when he arrived at the hospital , the surgeon added . It was n't known if this person was the slain TSA officer . TSA : Number of guns discovered in airports rising . The episode caused what airport police Chief Patrick Gannon , who had said the shooter used an `` assault rifle , '' described as a `` large amount of chaos . '' People ran for their lives and took shelter wherever they could as authorities pursued the gunman . Chuck Ocheret was among those in the busy airport when he heard two `` loud pops . '' `` Then I heard this mad rush of people , and there was a stampede of people coming from this direction , '' Ocheret told CNN . `` Nobody really knew what was going on . '' Still , by Friday afternoon , authorities believes the worst was over . Gannon noted it is believed there was only one shooter . Suspect 'pulled an assault rifle out ... and began to open fire ' An otherwise normal day in the airport 's Terminal 3 turned upside down around 9:20 a.m. ( 12:20 p.m . ET ) , as the suspect approached a checkpoint . There , he `` pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire , '' Gannon said . Passenger Saryan had just cleared the TSA checkpoint and was reaching for his shoes and belt when shots rang out , prompting `` everybody ( to ) hit the ground and .. run . '' A TSA officer grabbed Saryan 's shoes and started running alongside him , before the gunman grazed the officer with a bullet . `` I went and cowered in a corner , '' Saryan said . The suspect kept moving down Terminal 3 , equipped with three magazines for his weapon , according to the intelligence source briefed by Los Angeles police , he began running down Terminal 3 . He had company . Gannon said two officers from his department responded `` within seconds after the shooting started '' and ran off in pursuit of the suspect . Opinion : Arming TSA officers not the answer . Traveler Vernon Cardenas was sitting at one end of the terminal , when he heard noise and saw a mass of people running toward him . He and others bolted through a kicked-open exit door and ran onto the tarmac -- believing then it was safer there -- even with then still-arriving and departing jetliners -- than in the terminal above . The circular area where Cardenas had been is where the bloodshed finally ended with the gunman 's shooting by law enforcement , according to the intelligence source . They did n't take any chances with the wounded suspect either , handcuffing him to a gurney as he was being carried out . Actor Tim Daly said that when he was eventually led out of the the Virgin America first-class lounge , he saw where the incident came to a head around Gates 35 and 36 . After being told not to step on any blood or glass , Daly spotted a high-powered rifle on the ground along with a pair of black shoes and several bags strewn across the floor . Also there was more than 100 rounds of unspent ammunition , Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said , enough to `` have literally killed everyone in that terminal today . '' Los Angeles Police Chief Robert Beck credited the responding airport police officers with heroically saving lives with their efforts . It was a sentiment echoed by Mike Bonin , a city councilman whose district includes the airport and its surrounding neighborhoods . `` When shots rang out , members of the Los Angeles World Airport police department ran towards that gunfire , without regard to their own safety and well being , '' Bonin said . `` ... No doubt , without their efforts , the casualty count today would be significantly higher . '' Hundreds of flights impacted . Even once the suspect was shot and detained , law enforcement officers roamed the airport with guns drawn looking for others who might have involved . Fast Facts : 25 Deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history . KCAL showed live video of three officers with rifles to their shoulders inspecting parked cars in an open-air parking lot . At one point , firefighters lay tarps on the street at the airport , apparently for triage . The episode soon rendered one of the world 's busiest airports a ghost town . Large portions were evacuated as authorities ordered a `` ground stop '' for arriving planes that lasted four hours . About 750 flights were affected by the ordeal , including 46 would-be arriving aircraft that were diverted to other nearby airports , said Gina Marie Lindsay , executive director of Los Angeles World Airports . Some that did touch down were held on the ground in Los Angeles , while others did n't leave their originating airports . LAX , as it 's known , was a mess . Shooting delays flights nationwide . The area around the airport was jammed with cars as police shut down access . Meanwhile , many who were in the terminals , waiting for flights to arrive or depart , were pushed out . Even as late as 4 p.m. -- some 6½ hours after the shooting occurred -- masses were still huddled on sidewalks outside the airport , because they had no place else to go . Soon after that , people started moving back in as the airport operations kicked back into gear . Terminal 3 , though , remained closed -- all flights that were supposed to go in and out of there were relocated elsewhere in the airport -- and will be `` for a while , '' said Bowdich of the FBI . `` This has been a trying day for everyone , I know , '' Lindsay said . That 's especially true for members of the TSA , which lost one of its own Friday and had two others wounded . The federal agency 's chief , John Pistole , is heading to Los Angeles on Saturday . Before he left , he sent a message to his employees thanking them for their good work and support for each other . `` Together , we will get through this , '' Pistole wrote . `` Our faith will guide us and our professionalism will ensure our ability to carry out our mission . '' Celebrities give social media accounts of LAX incident .
The LAX officer killed was Bowdich of , 40 next week , the agency says . Official : Info on the suspect indicates anti-federal government sentiment . He allegedly shot 1 police officers , 3 fatally , before getting shot himself . The ordeal impacted hundreds of flights in and out of LAX and beyond .