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LAX shooting update: FBI serves warrant at Ciancia's former address, note taunted security officials

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Airport officials said they'll be reviewing security procedures after Friday's shooting at LAX . The shooting left one TSA official dead and several others injured, including shooting suspect Paul Anthony Ciancia, who remains in critical condition. FBI officials said Sunday that Ciancia was carrying a note that clearly outlined how he planned to target TSA officials.

We'll continue updating this story throughout the day. Refresh to see new information. 

FBI complaint | Timeline of shooting

Updates


Update 4:03 p.m.: 2 other wounded TSA officials ID'd

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NBC News reports that two other TSA officials who were wounded in Friday's attack have been identified by TSA Administrator John Pistole. The station reports: 

The two injured officers — 9-year TSA veteran Tony Grigsby, 36, who was grazed by a bullet near his foot; and 5-year TSA veteran James Speer, who was shot in the shoulder — are home resting and are expected to recover, according to Pistole.


Update 2:40 p.m.: Chairman of House Homeland Security Committee describes suicide note

Also from this morning's political talk shows, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) spoke on CNN's "State of the Union" about the note Ciancia carried with him in his duffel bag. 

"The suicide note that I read talks a lot about killing TSA agents," McCaul said. "He said 'If I kill just one, my mission is accomplished'." 

McCaul went on to say that the note didn't specifically mention suicide, but suggested that its author didn't intend to live beyond the attack.

McCaul also said the note went on to address how he would carry out the attack:

"And the other thing he went on to talk about is how easy it is to bring a gun into an airport and do something just like he did." 


 

Update 2:06 p.m.: FBI serves search warrant at Ciancia's Sun Valley residence
 
The Associated Press reports that the FBI has served a search warrant on a Sun Valley residence where Ciancia is thought to have lived before Friday's shooting. According to the AP:  

Ari Dekofsky, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said Sunday. Agents are still interviewing people, she said.

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Update 1:50 p.m.: Ciancia attended motorcycle repair college before moving West

KPCC has confirmed that suspected shooter Paul Anthony Ciancia attended a motorcycle repair school in Orlando from 2009 to 2011.

"He started with the core motorcycle technology program on December 14, 2009 and he graduated with a diploma on December 9, 2011," Universal Technical Institute spokeswoman Tina Miller said.

Universal Technical Institute (UTI) spokeswoman Tina Miller said the school couldn't comment on Ciancia's record at the school, but could confirm he completed the 50-week course at it's Florida Motorcycle Mechanics Institute.

Based in Arizona, UTI operates several schools, including the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute.


Update 12:15: Feinstein says she doesn't think LAX shooting will have effect on gun laws
 
On Face The Nation Sunday, California Senator Dianne Feinstein told host Bob Schieffer that she didn't expect Friday's shooting would have much affect on gun laws in the U.S.
 
The Senator, who has pushed for a resumption of a county-wide ban on assault rifles, responded to questions on the shooting by first praising the work that TSA agent Gerardo Hernandez. 
 
"I have some wounded and dead constituents" after the shooting, Feinstein said. She then went on  say that the gun was the same kind used in the Aurora, Colorado shooting in a movie theater that left 12 dead.

"The weapon was a .223 MP 15. The MP stands for 'military and police'," she said. "Clearly designed not for general consumption, But through practice, [it's] now for general consumption. Same gun that was used at Aurora."

When pressed by Schieffer on whether she would reintroduce her ban on assault rifles, she responded that she didn't think it would have much impact. Here's the exchange:

Feinstein: Would I do a bill? Sure, I'd do a bill. I believe this down deep in my soul, but ---"

Schieffer: Do you think there's any way that such a bill could pass? 

Feinstein: No. I don't. I don't. I think there's a hammer lock on the Congress by the gun owners and gun people and it doesn't matter." 

You can watch the full interview below or on CBS' website. The discussion on Friday's shooting begins around the 7th minute:
 

 

Update 10:30 a.m.: Last victim released from Harbor UCLA Medical Center

The last remaining victim from Friday's shooting was released yesterday afternoon from Harbor UCLA Medical Center, hospital officials told KPCC.

Hospital spokesman Phil Rocha confirmed that the male patient was one of two victims taken to the hospital. The first was TSA officer Gerardo Hernandez, who was pronounced dead there on Friday. 

Rocha wouldn't say who the victim was or what his injuries were. 

The suspected shooter and Calabasas teacher Brian Ludmer are recovering at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood.


Update 10:00 a.m.: LAX returning to normal

LAX spokesman Marshall Lowe told KPCC there are no flight delays at the airport Sunday morning. Traffic around the airport is normal and planes are again flying out of Terminal 3, where the shooting took place.

For more information, check in with LAX's twitter account:


Update 9:11 a.m.: Calabasas high school teacher recovering after shooting

Among those shot at LAX Friday is a high school teacher from Calabasas. NBC4 reports that Colleagues say Brian Ludmer, 29, was trying to catch a flight for a friend's wedding when he was shot in the leg in Terminal 3.

Dan Stepenosky is superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District said Ludmer was scared at first that he wasn't going to survive.

"He dragged himself to a nearby closet, closed the door and relied on his old Boy Scouts training to create a makeshift tourniquet to help slow the bleeding."

Ludmer has undergone surgery and is now recovering at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. You can see the full video at NBC4's website


Update 6:47 a.m.: Security review review underway for LA International

Early last month, LAX police trained hundreds of officers on how to deal with a heavily armed shooter in the airport. That scenario turned reality on Friday.  That's when police say Paul Anthony Ciancia entered Terminal 3 with  a Smith & Wesson .223-caliber M&P-15 assault rifle, rounds of ammunition and hunted Transportation Safety Administration employees, killing TSA officer Gerardo Hernandez.

Panicked travelers raced for exits, a scene caught on tape by TMZ.  Thousands fled the airport, on to the streets,  many with bags in hand.  From above, the scene looked chaotic.

RELATEDLAX Shooting: Suspected shooter Paul Ciancia could face death penalty

But according to Jeff Price, a security consultant who's worked with LAX police, officials were effective at getting people quickly out of harm's way: “The plans in place are essentially, 'Get out of the way of the bad thing that’s happening. Run.'”

Price said the airport is one of the few in the U.S. where officers carry automatic weapons and perform vehicle inspections.  LAX was also one of the first major airports to implement a program in which all luggage is screened and to have an on-site bomb squad.
 
But despite the preparations, police say Ciancia, who was not a ticketed passenger, was able to get past a TSA checkpoint. 

“The screening checkpoint is designed to screen people for unauthorized items before they get on an airplane," Price said. "It’s not designed to be a barrier."
 
Police have not said where officers first encountered Ciancia or where two other officers were wounded. When the gunman got into the main part of the terminal, past a JetBlue gate, the exodus of passengers continued. But this time, it was onto the tarmac.

Aviation security consultant Glen Winn said that’s the safest place they could have gone.
 
“Pilots are trained to just instantly stop the airplane in a taxi, which they would have been," Winn said. "And then you have the FAA, which oversees the whole airport, and they would normally just order everyone to stop.”

TIMELINE: Shots fired at LAX Terminal 3 checkpoint 

LAX police said they will do an internal review of security procedures. At a press conference on Saturday, LAX Police Chief Patrick Gannon said reviews can be "brutal."   He also indicated there might be changes to security policy in the wake of the shooting.

The union representing airport police has been critical of a recent decision to move armed officers from behind the checkpoints to other parts of the terminal. Gannon defended the change.  He said his officers cannot stay in one place all the time because their movements would become too predictable.
 
“We changed our strategy to a certain degree," Gannon said. "For instance, if I was a football coach and I ran the same play every time, I wouldn’t gain a yard.”
 
Gannon said it took his officers sixty seconds to respond to the shooter. A LAX Police Sergeant wounded Ciancia next to a Burger King located towards the end of the terminal. 

Security at LAX was tightened after the terrorist attacks of September, 2001.  Then-Mayor James Hahn went so far as to propose screening passengers in Inglewood, before they got to the terminals.

“That’s the only preventive measure I can think of, and it is used in Narita, Japan,” said Winn, who backed the measure.
 
Hahn’s plan, part of a larger airport expansion, never had much support, and was nixed when Antonio Villaraigosa came into office.
 
In 2006, a RAND report warned that a well-armed group of terrorists could kill a large number of people before being stopped. It said airport police capabilities would be of limited effectiveness against well-equipped attackers.
 
It’s not clear what changes LAX made after the report, if any. Airport police didn’t respond to requests to comment for this story. — Ben Bergman, KPCC