activities. >> good morning, jim featherstone. at this time the lafd has treated seven patients and transported six to area hospitals. we have approximately 100 firefighters committed to this incident. as chief gannon said, the incident started around 9:20, 9:28 the first lafd resources were on the scene. in terms of more heightened awareness, the city's emergency operations center has been activated at a level one and has been for well over two hours now. the city is standing tall a. >> thank you. >> next hear from the chief of the los angeles police department who is involved in this and the operations as well. chief charlie beck. >> very briefly, i want to commend the men and women of

lapd, we have the los angeles police department and tsa and fbi, laso and other agencies, we'll treat this incident with the unified command, many, many details as you're interested will not be given out at this point. we will not speak about the nature of injuries and not speak about the identity of the suspect. the investigation is being handled by the fbi. with the cooperation of the los angeles police department. again, a tremendous unified response. i know this region worries about its airport because of the complex issues involved with various jurisdictions. it was handled very well today, thank you. >> hold on one second. we'll next hear from fbi special agent in charge, special agent b bowitch to talk about the situation. >> david bodich, bowdich.

first off, we're working hand in hand with our partners here to include the los angeles police department, the l.a. airport police and respect to this investigation. this investigation is ongoing. i'll give you very little facts, very few facts. we're working with the u.s. attorneys office as well as our partners. i'm not going to talk about the victims today. we still have people we have to be in contact with in the meantime. we're going to bring our resources to bear in conjunction with partners here which would include our evidence response team and any other necessary resources. at this point we do not see any additional threats here at the airport. >> thank you, finally, last speaker will be mike bodden and then we'll take questions after that. we want to thank them for in help not only with the traffic and traveling public here today as well. one last note i want to say we'll take questions after.

i want to thank officers from the los angeles airports department, police department here, who's heroic acts saved lives here today. >> thank you. good morning, i just want to reiterate something the mayor said and thank the first spontders here today. lapd, los angeles world airport police and fire department, tsa, fbi, there's a natural human instinct to flee or duck. the folks here today coordinating our folks when they hear gunshots run towards them and save lives. and to watch the unified command here today, work together professionally and seamlessly is awe inspiring. the people in los angeles are in good hands. we want to thank the public for their cooperation. >> we'll ask chief gannon to

come forward -- [ indiscernible ] >> i'm not sure to be honest with you. what we have yet as far as that goes. >> can you explain why the fbi --? >> this is an airport at that has jurisdiction, we have fbi assets on board. it's in the unified command involving everybody but the investigative lead has been decided to take by the fbi. >> is the shooter a federal employee? >> i don't know. >> was he ever? >> i don't know. [ indiscernible ] >> not that i'm aware of. [ indiscernible ] >> no, we've -- in a dynamic situation where things unfold so rapidly and many people come in, there's always chaos in any type of event like this and always

the -- everybody is always thinking forward as to whether or not there's additional suspects. as we stand here now, there's only one individual responsible for this as we know as the active -- as that active shooter in our terminal. i want to follow up a little bit on what the mayor said regarding the officers that went in after this individual. this individual was shooting as he went into the -- into the terminal. the officers didn't -- i repeat, they didn't hesitate. they went after this individual and they confronted this individual in our airport. and unfortunately, it involved an officer-involved shooting but that's what needed to be done and that was heroic. we practiced to this not more than three weeks ago. we took everyone of our officers parks trol officers and couple hundred officers from the los angeles police department and we practiced the exact scenario

that played out today. and i was talking to the officers involved in this particular incident a few minutes ago. they said that training was critical to how they responded to that. they are well trained officers. and all of the agencies that came in, whether it's from los angeles county sheriff's department, lapd here on campus with us every day, hawthorne, the sheriffs and everybody came in to help us get through this particular incident and we appreciate their help. >> why are you not addressing that? why are you not -- you must have that information? >> that's not true. and one, i don't know that information at all. we have obviously trying to develop information on the suspect, that's the fbi's responsibility as with the help of the los angeles police department and follow-up investigation. and that will be determined.

but if you're asking me whether or not that information is clear right at this point, i'm telling you it is not and that's the official word and that's the truth. [ indiscernible ] >> chief, how come -- >> the suspect got back very far into a terminal. there's a burger king that is quite aways away from the screening station and he was able to get back there. i appreciate all of the questions. we'll have more information shortly. thank you. >> i know a lot of people have other questions. i'm going to say something briefly in spanish for spanish folks here. we will give you as much information as soon as we have that. >> nbc continues breaking news of today's shooting at lax, authorities just wrapped up a news conference a suspect is now in custody but not before tragedy unfolded at lax local

time. there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and officer who was stationed at the airport. we also know that the officer was not the only person hit. flights have been disrupted nationwide. air traffic nationwide is a mess on multiple levels right now. pete williams is working sources in washington. pete, what do we know right now about the shooter? >> not very much. they are trying to verify his identity. we've been told that he's an american citizen in his 20s. we don't know where he's come or where the gun came from. police have said it was an assault-type rifle. that's the term they used. we're told it's an ar-15 type semiautomatic rifle that he carried it in, took it out of the bag and open fire. now, we believe that the shooting victims were also

employees of the transportation security administration, all tsa employees at this i.d. checkpoint where you go to show your driver's license and your boarding pass or ticket. we're told he did not have a ticket. and he just pulled the rifle out and began firing. we know that one tsa employee was killed. we believe that tlehree others were wounded. the gunman was shot. we believe the gunman is in critical condition at a medical center near the airport. the authorities did say at this news conference, just ended that seven patient in all were transported, that six are still in the hospital. so we don't know how that math works out. we don't know who those other folks were, if they were people who suffered heart attacks or fell down or whartever, we don' know. in terms of shooting victims, we only heard of four tsa people,

one of whom was killed and the gunman for a total of five. in terms of the identity of the gunman, there had been reports and you heard if you were listening closely, you heard the he authorities ask questions about a report circulating, that the gunman is an offduty or former tsa employee. we've been told by several officials that that is not the case. they are still trying to verify the identity of the gunman and there will be lots of investigation now about what the gunman had in mind, is there any -- did he leave behind any writings, why did he go there? that is all unknown at this point. >> thanks for that. pete, lots of questions still being answered at this time. we'll have more from you late e joining us on the phone, an eyewitness who was questioned by police at lax. >> how are you? >> good. >> i'm at lax right now. i'm at the international terminal. i was in terminal three and just

gotten through the security when the shooting started. >> you were detained by police during this situation? >> no, after -- what happened was a security agent they hit the floor and then they told the passengers to run towards the gates. so i gathered up myself but missing my belt and shoes and ran. there was a security agent next to me, who had my shoes. he was hit. but i don't think he had a life threatening injury. and the shooter came down the corridor and past the security area and confronted me and looked at me, tsa with a question mark in his eyes? and i just shook my head. and he kept going. >> what -- you saw the shooter

and he confronted you, you were face to face with him? what did he look like and what did he seem like to you? >> he was white, fairly young. he was carrying a rifle of some sort. i can't identify what kind. and wearing like a gray jackets, something like that. light brown, i would say brown hair, thin. not heavyset at all, young. late 20s. >> did he seem calm and collected or did he seem a bit out of control and perhaps? >> no, he was calm, he was walking slowly. he must have felt that he had -- he was in control because he had his weapon and you know, nobody else did at that time. i was cowering in a corner when he confronted me. so you know, by the grace of god, you know, i would have been

one of the fatalities. >> and he asked you if you were tsa. it seems -- >> all he said, all he said was tsa? like that. >> wow. >> i'm wearing my normal street clothes, you know, so -- you can see i didn't have a uniform. >> he was walking, not running. >> he was walking. >> did you hear the gunshots? >> yes, absolutely. i heard gunshots at the beginning of the event. and then as i was picking up my stuff, you know, more, more gunshots. >> and did you see any direct police sponsor response by other authorities interacting with him at any point? >> there was tsa agent next to me running also and he went and hid in a store. i didn't see them engage but i saw shortly after he passed by, several tsa agents came down the corridor and guns drawn. they have pistols and they were

looking for him. >> this happened right at the checkpoint because you said you didn't have your belt. had you gone through the checkpoint or was this before? >> i had -- it was after i had gone through the checkpoint and looking for a chair to get my shoes and belt on. >> what did the police ask you? >> they asked me all the same questions that you guys are asking, what did he look like? you know, i talked with the police -- fbi is probably still waiting to talk to me. >> did he point his gun at you? >> not exactly. -- yes, okay. >> you thought for a moment you might die? >> absolutely. absolutely. he did not point the gun at me but he clearly was in control and he could have if he wanted to. >> leon, thank you for time.

we're turning to miguel almaguer outside lax. >> reporter: it's a fluid situation. a few minutes ago we saw a dozen police cars with their sirens blairing going right into lax very quickly. there are -- there's a lot of people in this area. we've seen passengers carrying luggage, we're hundreds of yards away from where the shooting took place. let me bring you up to speed with what police are saying. at 9:30 this morning, a sole gunman walked into the airport a. pulled out an assault rifle and began to shoot targeting tsa agents and then he was able to breach security and make his way into the terminal where ticketed passengers wait for their planes. police followed him in and engage in a short gun battle before he was taken into custody.

we're told it was a lone shooter that seven people were injured and six of them transported to the hospital. we have heard some of those patients, at least one is in critical condition. we haven't had an update from hospital officials on how many patients or what their status is and the investigation here is certainly ongoing as i mentioned. we've seen police flying through this area with the sirens on, still very tense outside lax. dozens of spectators behind the cameras looking towards lax, we've seen passengers with luggage. literally walking down the street. hundreds of yards away to where the terminal is at. they are dragging luggage out because this entire area is shutdown. >> jim cavanaugh, a hostage negotiator, what do you make of the situation and the authority's response? >> i think the authorities responded well. the security worked here.

tragically lost a tsa agent and others wounded. but it appears from pete will m william's report those are the only ones wounded. we saw the chief the lax airport police describe their extensive training, very good police force. they were able to stop the guy. security worked and police worked but it's a tragic situation. and the underlying question as tour'e alluded to and everybody wants to know, what's the motive. and who were his targets? and so we're hopefully in the hours as it unfolds we'll know that and that's what police commanders want to know too. they want to see what else is out there. >> your background is in atf. with you have tsa, who are unarmed and understand how do you go from that screening process to then taking out and restraining this type of

shooter? did you hear me, jim? >> we may have lost, jim, tour'e. we have clint van zandt also available. can you hear me? >> yes, i can. >> weigh in what we were just discussing, the question of when you have tsa, largely unarmed and get into this situation. what is the protocol and how did that work today? >> the challenge is tsa at the airport is the first line of defense. they are there at the metal detectors and first person of authority you see with a badge on. they are backed up by police officers but the men and women of tsa are right out front. they are the ones that have to deal. evidently the shooter came in with the what's described as a semiautomatic ak-47 like rifle in a bag. when he went to the metal det t detector where we would drop our laptop or bag, he came out with

his gun. pete williams broeched the question too. what's significant is that he appears he targeted tsa officers. we know we're told one was killed and two or three wounded. the witness you just spoke to said he was asked if he was tsa. possibly one of the things everyone is considering is about two months ago a tsa officer at lax allegedly made an inappropriate comment about how a 15-year-old girl was dressed as she was going through the line. he was terminated when he was terminated, he called in and wrote in death threats against tsa agents and against the lax airport and arrested and charged. number one, he may still be in custody. number two, he is a nigerian born veteran of u.s. military, but by virtue of his name, that 29-year-old doesn't sound like physically dexripgswise the same

person that the shooter is being described in. it's likely a coincidence but something that law enforcement has to consider in their investigation. >> of course law enforcement will consider everything. there was a dry ice incident, dry ice bomb incident at lax. but as the eyewitness told us, the shooter, alleged gunman walked up to him and asked if he was tsa, which suggests at some loefl this person was perhaps looking for tsa and wanting to do something to them. doesn't that say that to you? >> it really does. the person is described -- we're hearing white male and he was dressed all in black, maybe some type of combat type of black clothing. he had the rifle. it's obvious to everyone that this guy came in and had a game plan. he had a weapon and it appears that he had a target group he was going after. he initially shot csa officers, agents, he even asked this guy

in civilian clothes who was hiding behind the chair, are you tsa? that was what his apparent thought process was. i'm here to interact or to assault tsa. the question now for the fbi, which will be the lead agency in this investigation, is what is this guy's background that contributed to that mindset. was anybody aware of it? was anybody else involved in this terrible situation? >> absolutely. when somebody goes to the airport -- i believe it's been reported he did not have a ticket and did have an assault rifle. clearly there's a plan in place there and not obviously to try to get on an airplane. we've had situations before where we've said home grown violence, perhaps terrorism, as much as a threat on a day to day basis as foreign born terrorism. americans attacking americans it seems. >> again, this allegedly

targeting tsa, this is why in the environment we would call it a violence in workplace, potential violence in workplace situation because it appears and realize there's a lot to be learned, it appears this individual went in and somehow was targeting tsa. the question is, what is his beef? what had his relationship with tsa? if it is home grown, there's so many other ways to resolve conflict but unfortunately violence is a means of conflict resolution in this country. >> tell us more about tsa officers in general. they are not really police but do have that sort of responsibility within one area of the airport. but there are also actual officers and military personnel at airports. they don't have guns but they are sort of first level of response. tell us about tsa and what we

need and expect from them? >> of course, tsa came about after 9/11 when we had planes hijacked and other individuals running metal detectors. tsa is well trained as they are, these are security officers, not law enforcement officers, don't carry guns or have the power of arrest. they rely on local police, sheriff's deputies, whatever sworn law enforcement officer at that airport to handle that responsibility. by and large they interact with the public and screen our baggage. they are first line of defense for you and me when we travel to make sure somebody else doesn't get on that plane with a gun or box cutter or bomb or something like that. and they do their job every day, but no, they find tens of hundreds of guns on a monthly basis where people have them in their baggage, stuck in their

pocket or people are trying to get on a plane with a knife or some other type of weapon. here we are a decade after 9/11, everyone knows you don't do that and people still try it on a daily basis. that thin blue line, to stop them before they get on a plane. >> stay with us. the former director of securities, known for years for string ent security protocols, now an aviation security consultant. when you look at a situation like this in an airport which we know is a huge security target but localized as we've been reporting, not at the plane, not trying to board the plane but earlier, how do you interpret an event like this as a security risk? >> once we know if you have enemies coming to kill us, if

it's at the airport or anywhere, it has to be under the protection of the either authorities in the airport or the inspection agent, tsa, spends $8 billion for security, they are hiring special qualified people to train them, look for suspicious people that are coming toward the airport. et cetera, et cetera. >> how do you interpret the distinction that clint was drawing, this is in some sense potentially an incident of workplace violence because it takes place so far from the plane, where in the context and international terrorism security, you worry much more about people trying to weaponize the plane itself? >> three words, shame on us. this is the security that you have in this country. many times i was screaming that we don't have security in this country and in our air force.

over 300 airports in the country. where is the security now? the tsa did tons of tests to the security people. we know the results. what we do to change it -- we spend millions of dollars from the taxpayer to look for suspicious people like this -- >> let me push back on you for a second -- if you listen -- should we then not allow people to get into the building at all unless they've been searched? >> let's take that question but before we get to that question, what mayor garcetti and the police chiefs we were showing in the press conference would say is that while there was a terrible incident they were arguing that the system worked and there was a perimeter of security that stopped the piercing of the airport. what would your response be to that? >> do me a favor, if they are security, how is it possible that people are crossing the fences from the outside, others

are driving cars into the air side, that nobody should do, be there? we say we have security. where is the port authority that they have to run around the airport to prevent this kind of tragedy? where are the security special forces that the tsa hired and receive millions of dollars and they train the people to make sure that they would arrest anyone who was suspicious? we don't have security. we leave with the illusion that we have security. we have to stop -- >> what would you have american airports do differently that somebody should not be able to enter the building at all until they've been checked? >> no, no, this is not a jail. the people are coming to the airport. they should not suffer. we can train people to be able to identify suspicious people that are coming to the terminal

from the sidewalk into the terminal and wherever -- >> a little bit like profiling, right? i know in israel that might be in earier than in a multiracial country like america. how do you know this person is -- >> go ahead. >> what's the difference between the airport in tel aviv or any terminal airport in this country? we have people to hire and enough people that are qualified to be trained and to be placed and tested that they do their job properly or not. why we can do thousands of tests to make sure that one has to identify suspicious, he does the job properly or not. if you don't do it, go home. no mercy. don't be nice. we are dealing with life. look what happened now. look at the panic. look everyone is talking so nice.

the bottom line, why we couldn't prevent it? only because it's a free country and anyone can do whatever he wants. september 11th was not enough for us to learn how 19 terrorists, five terrorists in each security checkpoint and nobody stopped them with the knives? >> i'm not sure how we get to reforms you're suggesting without removing a certain amount of civil liberties for people who don't look a certain way. which is not actual security, that is the illusion of security. the international chiefs of police say racial profiling doesn't work and has no job in policing. but it seems you're suggesting we need more profiling and that's the answer. >> first of all, we need more -- >> more profiling. >> yeah, people that are coming to attack, they cannot be behave like you and me sitting here and talking and smiling orange gri. >> people are nervous. that you see that they do some

signs between themselves. and you have to look at them to find out why they are nervous, why i'm walking slow when everybody is walking normal. many times to find out if somebody is watching me or not. it's not complicated to train people to be able to identify somebody who looks suspicious, maybe you are wrong. i prefer him to be wrong and not to let him go without checking who he is and what is he zoig doing in the terminal. >> you have a lot of experience in international context, on the other hand in contrast to what you have suggested, many people will look as we're early in the reporting consequence, if these numbers stands, about six or seven injuries, one death and situation that was contained in a relatively quick amount of time, many will look at it as to

domestic crime, not the breaching of the actual access to the airline. thanks for being here today. >> very big mistake. >> i'm saying thank you for being here. former lapd police chief bill bratton will be with us next. stay with us. >> somebody started shooting, it sounded like either a .44 or a pretty big caliber gun or shotgun. it was within 15 feet where i was standing. it seemed like they were shooting away from where i was. i couldn't see the shooter i guess but it was very close in terms of sound. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals:

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still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. back now with our continuing coverage with the shooting at los angeles international airport. a tsa officer is dead, alleged

gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle near a security checkpoint. he's now in custody. let's turn to msnbc analyst bill bratton who ran the lapd for seven years. a gunman opening fire in the crowded l.a. airport on a friday morning is a security person's nightmare. >> it certainly is but ironically it's one that's been prepared for during a recent press conference with the mayor and the police officials at the airport, chief gannon, now head of the airport police department, referenced they just recently had a training drill with exactly this scenario as the basis of the drill. when i first took over as chief the lapd in 2002, incidents of terrorism were increasing, we

had a very similar drill at the airport. that was almost 13 years ago. so what helped out here today was the fact that the police forces at the airport had training for just such an event you'llty and that may have saved lives. >> we have a fairly robust discussion about whether or not the systems in place at the airport were effective. in your mind you look at the situation and you say, airports need to change even further or do you say, the system actually worked here? >> well, that's what they will want to determine whether a very extensive review of what happened today. la airport is probably one of the most heavily policed and protected airports in the country. i travel all over the country. i was chief there for seven years but just passing through other airports around the country, none of them have the

visibility or large numbers of officers physically on the scene that los angeles international airport has. one of the things that certainly will review is every one of the baggage screening areas where this shooting began is normally staffed by two uniformed armed los angeles airport police. that is something you don't see at most airports around the country. officers and other airports tend to be moving. but lax, they are usually two armed officers right at the baggage screening area, as well as others who are basically patrolling the terminals. that will be one of the things looked at in terms of the officers that in response to this high powered assault type weapon coming through the screening area and shooting what appears to be a large number of

tsa agents. >> americans wants their liberty to be on the move about. we want security. that is the balance in the post 9/11 world. is it your belief that no matter how much we have done, in terms of eyes in the sky and officers all over the place, if someone is intent on doing something, there are areas of this country that are -- that cannot be secure that we cannot keep 100% safe? >> secure everywhere, particularly in the democracy. this individual could have just as easily driven down the roadway at los angeles airport at that time in the morning and there would have been normally hundreds of people at the southwest terminal, hundreds lined up on the sidewalks outside the terminal. he could have easily with that weapon drove down the roadway, public roadway and open fire without exposing himself going into a terminal. we live in a democracy and we consciously and purposely live in a society that seeks to

remain open and accessible. unfort natdly we live in a democracy that is unwilling to deal with the gun issue in a realistic way so firearms are available particularly firearms such as was used today in huge numbers. we pay the price. look at the mass shootings in the last two weeks in the united states. these are things we're going to seal with more frequency over time unfortunately. you try the best you can to prevent the carnage by quick response which appears to have occurred here today at the airport. could have been a lot worse. somebody armed with an assault weapon, he could have killed or injured many more people but apparently police weren't able to subdue him before he was able to do that. >> commissioner, when we reported on the news conference from your former colleagues at lapd as well as fbi, the statement that was made, was while there were very few facts

released at this point in time but the ongoing investigation, there were no further threats, no additional threats that this is in some ways a completed incident. from your experience, what do you tell the people of los angeles and all of the travelers affected at this point in time, they can essentially return to business as usual? >> yes, quite clearly that the police have determined that this individual based on the investigations at this point apparently acted alone, a lot of what is going on at the airport is precautionary in the sense of the afterfact bomb dog checks attempt to identify how this individual got to the airport. did he come by car or public transport? and identify where his car is. checking all of the parking garages and parking lots with the bomb dogs and basically confirming his identity and see what type of vehicle he drives, if he drives one.

the complexity of where the airport is located near the major highways in los angeles often merge on that highway. you have the added confusion of the incredible traffic jams now caused by the tens and thousands of people trying to get to the airport. it will remain confusing for a period of time. i'm amazed they got in much done as they did this morning. in two hours they had it contained and holding a news conference to give preliminary information. >> bill bratton, thanks for spending time with us today. we want to get back to pete williams with new information. what can you tell us? >> what we're told here is that they begin to look at who the suspect is, we're told he's age 23, u.s. citizen from the l.a. area. we're holding off on reporting the name until we're certain that is the name they believe was the suspect here. the initial read is that there

was no connection to the tsa. i bring this only because i bring this up only because there had been reports that perhaps this was an offduty or former tsa official. we've been told repeatedly that is not the case. they don't seem to see any connection at all between this young man and the tsa. instead they say, their initial check is that this was a someone with very strong anti-government views. why this person chose the tsa as his target, we don't know. but we believe that the shooting victims here, at least those we've been able to determine, were all employees of the tsa. one of whom was killed and three of whom wounded. the gunman himself was shot by l.a. airport police and we believe now is in critical condition at the l.a. medical center. so now the next step will be to get a search warrant to go through his house as chief bratton said, look at his car, talk to his neighbors and try to find out why he did this, go

back and do his movements leading up to this. when did he acquire the weapon? how? were there writings in the house? why would they have done this as they try to answer these questions. >> pete williams, thanks for that. let's head back to clint van zandt and dip into the profiling you're so famous for, clint. pete williams reporting no direct connection to tsa. it's been sort much banting about. saying that is not the case. it seems from other reporting we've been doing from the eyewitness we spoke to, that the person did want to harm or targeting tsa officials. perhaps there's some anti-government sentiment, in animosity towards law enforcement what does that make you think about? a person who would go to the airport with an assault rifle?

>> well, first of all, it appears that the shooter right now intentionally confronted tsa officers. most of us know that tsa agents or officers do not carry weapons. we see this so many times where an armed gunman, his target selection group are people not carrying weapons who don't have the ability to defend themselves. now first of all, that's not an argument the tsa should be armed. that's note their job. i don't think they should carry guns. that's the job ever airport police and sheriff's office, whoever handles that law enforcement responsibility, but this particular gunman, he dressed for the occasion. armed himself for the occasion. he came without a ticket so it's obvious, we know if you try to get a semiautomatic rifle through a metal detector, you're probably going to get caught. he had to know he would be

confronted at that point. so it appears this was an intentional confrontation on his part. what tsa represented, whether it was the government, law enforcement, or in his perhaps twisted mind, some -- somebody trying to take away his rights, whatever he saw them as, he targeted a group of individuals that he knew wouldn't have the ability to fight back, to shoot back and one more time when he left that immediate area and confronted a civilian, his question was, are you tsa? in his mind, that was still who he was after, even though that person was dressed in civilian clothes. what that says to me though, this is a type of person who would have made statements to friends, family members, things on his blog, internet statements that will give us a lot of information when we start to candle his head.

>> thank you very much, clint. let's go to a press conference right now at ucla hospital. >> i can't comment on that. >> the person in critical condition -- is that a gunshot wound victim? >> yes, sir. >> can you talk about how -- why they were brought here today? >> well, in an event like this occurs -- we clear out rooms and get ready and get our personnel into something we're well prepared to do. as it turned out thankfully we received only three. >> did you receive any patients who --? >> three patients, one critical, two -- >> i'm sorry, i don't know that. >> doctor, can you tell us more about their description, their ages perhaps? >> unfortunately i can't due to privacy concerns and they are details i don't have. they come with very little information and we'll take care of the injuries. i'm sure that will be released

later. >> you had mentioned you have been able to talk -- >> another ucla facility? >> no, sir, i'm not sure about that. >> are all of these people residents of los angeles? >> i don't know anything at this time. we take care of them, that's it. >> we're going to take a quick break but another firsthand account from on the ground at lax. >> i was running down across the tarmac to get away from whatever was going on and first line of police comes rushing in in their cars and of course they think i'm a suspect running away or whatever. i was put to the ground in cuffs and told to just lay there for ten minutes while they kept going. having a gun to your head is pretty -- >> i can't imagine that experience. nick, were you traveling with anybody or were you sort of in this on your own? >> thank goodness, my family is at home and my wife dropped me off and i was by myself.

i was just running by myself. >> where are you now? were you released? have your wife pick your up? >> no, she's -- she left the airport, she's not getting back in at any time soon. after they found that i wasn't the suspect, they let me up and took the cuffs off and ran up into -- i don't know what terminal it is, different terminal and locked it down. now we're sitting in here, with a bunch of other passengers. they caught the guy? they told me security just caught him. max and penny kept our bookstore exciting and would always come to my rescue. but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasn't himself. and i knew he'd feel better if he lost a little weight. so i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula. i just fed the recommended amount... and they both loved the taste. after a few months max's "special powers" returned...

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welcome back. pete williams has brand-new information on the suspect. let's get right to him. >> reporter: well, we're told by several authorities now that they have a name associated with this suspect. they say it's 23-year-old man named paul anthony and then frankly, i don't know how to pronounce the last name. c-i-a-n-c-i, born february of 1990, lived in the l.a. area. they say he had no connection to the transportation security administration, to tsa, but that apparently, based on some written materials he was carrying, he had strong anti-government views. so as i indicated earlier, the next step now that they have a name associated with the suspect, they will try to learn the person's address. go to a court, get a search warrant to search his house.

begin to question neighbors and piece together a time line leading up to the time this was -- the time the shooting occurred. but, of course, one very obvious question is he may have had a generalized anti-government views, but why did he target the tsa? that's one of the many questions they'll be trying to answer. but the name, we're told, by several officials is paul anthony ciancia, age 23, from the l.a. area. >> all right. pete williams, thank you so much for that. let's bring in nbc's kristen welker at the white house, where the president is monitoring the situation. kristen, what do you know? >> reporter: as has become an all-too-familiar situation at the white house, president obama has briefed on the shooting at l.a.x. within minutes of that unfolding and breaking news. he was briefed by his deputy chief of staff, white house press secretary, jay carney was asked during his daily briefing. here's what he had to say. take a listen. >> the president has been

briefed on the incident at los angeles international airport. by alyssa mass extra monaco, chief of staff, and he will be updated. at this point the lead is the lapd, but we're obviously at the federal level in touch with law enforcement officials on the ground, and will -- the president will be updated as the afternoon progresses. >> now, at this point in time, there appears there are no plans for the president to speak about this. president obama currently meeting with iraq's prime minister, norelle maliki, this was supposed to be the president's health care website, but, of course, renewed discussion about the issue of guns and gun violence as this white house continues to monitor the situation at l.a.x. back to you. >> all right, kristen, thank you very much. the shooting at l.a.x. is, of course, affecting air travel everywhere else. that is, perhaps, the least of

the issues with one person dead and several injured. but that is something that a lot of people are thinking about. nbc's katy tur is at new york city's laguardia airport katy, is it snarled there? >> reporter: it's not, actually. but delays to newark are running about 45 minutes behind, give or take, depending on the airline you're taking. if you're wondering if that's because of the ground stop at l.a.x., in much of the case there was a line of severe weather that came through, and this is the rippling effects of the delays up to three hours earlier. if you are going to los angeles and heading into l.a.x., all flights are stopped for departure until after 4:00, so that should ease up. and here we're seeing some stepped up security as well as many of the airports across the country. there are a few more nashl guardsmen around, a few more port authority cops and police officers. but for the most part, just precautionary. not affecting any of the travel times if you're coming to the airport. so things should start looking better in the coming hours,

getting back to normal as we speak. back to you. >> all right, katy tur at laguardia. thank you for that update. and thank you for being here with us this hour. martin bashir picks up our coverage next. maxwell is not. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com. so hurry in and try three succulent entrées. like our new snow crab and crab butter shrimp, just $14.99. only at red lobster where we sea food differently. [ male announcer ] now try 7 lunch choices at $7.99. sandwiches, salads, and more.

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good afternoon, i'm jonathan capehart in for martin bashir. and we want to continue with our breaking news coverage out of los angeles this afternoon. a terrifying scene unfolding earlier this morning when a lone gunman entered the nation's second busiest airport and violence and chaos ensued with multiple people shot and one tsa agent killed. authorities gave a news conference just a short time ago.

>> an individual came into terminal 3 of this airport, pulled a assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire in the terminal. he proceeded up into the screening area, where tsa screeners are, and continued shooting, and went past the screeners back into the airport itself. personnel officers from airport police, los angeles airport police, responded immediately to the calls. they tracked the individual through the airport, and engaged him in gunfire in terminal 3. and were able to successfully take him into custody. >> nbc news justice correspondent, pete williams, joins me now with the latest on the investigation. pete, i understand we have learned breaking news with the suspect. at