Los Angeles airport shooting: suspect charged with murder as he fights for life

A man accused of shooting a security guard
dead in a packed Los Angeles airport
terminal was charged with murder as he
fought for his life while detectives tried to
piece together motives for the attack.
Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, faces charges of
murder of a federal officer and committing
violence at an international airport, US
attorney Andre Birotte said on Saturday
night. Under the charges, federal
prosecutors could seek the death penalty,
he said.
Ciancia opened fire, allegedly killing an
unarmed security officer and injuring five
others, starting panic among passengers.
He was wounded in the leg and face during
a gunfight with police.
Detectives said the gunman was dressed in
military fatigues and had been carrying 150
rounds of ammunition when he was
cornered in a food court. In his bag was
found a one-page, handwritten note saying
he wanted to kill airport security workers
and "pigs".
One law enforcement official told the
Associated Press that the note appeared to
indicate the gunman was a "pissed-off
patriot" who believed his constitutional
rights were being violated by airport
security searches.
Little is currently known about Ciancia, who
moved to California from New Jersey 18
months ago. US media reports said his
family, who run a garage in the town of
Pennsville, told police before the attack
that they had received a text message
saying he planned suicide.
"Their younger child got a text message
from Paul, stating that there were some
comments in there about his wellbeing and
he wanted to possibly take his own life,"
said local police chief Allen Cummings.
FBI agents were searching Ciancia's home
in the Los Angeles area on Saturday. Two
flatmates questioned by police said they
had seen Ciancia a day earlier and he had
appeared to be fine.
"Our goal is to do a true scrub on the
individual to find out what was the tipping
point for this person," FBI special agent
David Bowdich told Reuters.
The attack at America's third-busiest airport
began at about 9.20am local time on Friday,
when the gunman pulled a rifle from his
bag inside Terminal 3, pushed his way
through security gates into a boarding area
and started shooting.
"I really thought I saw death," said Anne
Rainer, who had been waiting for a flight to
New York.
The incident affected an estimated 1,550
flights carrying more than 167,000
passengers.