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Topic: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting (Read 584 times)

MzzJoplin
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Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« on: Jul 4^th, 2002, 5:29pm »

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Three dead in L.A. airport shooting

LOS ANGELES, July 4 A gunman opened fire Thursday at the ticket counter of Israels El Al airlines at Los Angeles International Airport, killing two people before he himself was shot dead by an airline security guard. The killings came as the nation was on high alert for a possible Fourth of July terrorist attack.
A spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security said the national command center in Washington had heard of no other reports of trouble across the nation on the Fourth of July holiday.

SEVEN PEOPLE were injured, including an El Al security guard, and thousands were evacuated from the international terminal, authorities said. One person was arrested, police said. The FBI said it was not looking for any other suspects.
Mayor James Hahn said there was no immediate indication that shooting was connected to terrorism. It appears this was an isolated incident, Hahn said. Israels foreign ministry blamed terrorists, but didnt offer any evidence to support the claim.
The gunman had approached another person at the counter and opened fire shortly before noon. There was no immediate indication of his identity, nationality or motive.
No international flights were taking off from LAX, but international flights continued to land. Domestic flights continued to take off, but there were delays.
A spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security said the national command center in Washington had heard of no other reports of trouble across the nation on the Fourth of July holiday.
Senior U.S. intelligence officials said there was nothing in recent intelligence reports that indicated a holiday terrorist attack would focus on a U.S. airport or El Al Airlines.
AIRPORT CHAOS
After the shooting the international terminal in the airport was closed and television images from the airport showed thousands of people being evacuated from the terminal. Fire officials deployed a team to check for hazardous materials.
Five ambulances were sent to the airport, and several victims were receiving medical attention, LAPD spokesman Lt. Horace Frank told MSNBC.
El Al Flight 106 was scheduled to depart from the airport at 1 p.m., an hour and a half after the shooting, with 90 passengers, the airline said in a statement.
I saw security guards run out, said Dee Dee Leeworthy, who was at the airport at the time of the shooting. Security said they were afraid there were more shooters.
EL AL SECURITY
The state-owned Israeli carrier, El Al is known among the worlds airlines for its tight security and training of its airport screeners. The airline operates out of five U.S. cities.
El Al has been targeted frequently by terrorists. As a result, most El Al departure terminals around the world have been segregated and specially designed for a higher level of security by Israeli security experts.
The worst such incident was a massacre at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv in 1972, when 26 people were killed and 78 were injured when Palestinian gunmen shot randomly into the crowded passenger lounge.
In December 1985, Palestinian gunmen opened fire with machine guns and grenades at the El Al check-in area in Romes Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Fourteen people were killed, including three attackers, and 70 were injured.

1.Vehicles: Vehicles parked outside airports are closely monitored. Unattended vehicles may be towed.
Lessons from abroad: Unattended or illegally parked vehicles are also towed in Europe and Asia. Vehicle monitoring extends to entry roads at several foreign airports. Those at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, the most secure in the world, include checkpoints with armed guards and inspectors who scrutinize documents for every car. It's common for police to search the undersides and trunks of cars arriving at Narita International Airport in Tokyo.

2.Outside: After being prohibited by the FAA in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, curbside and off-site baggage check-in are again available in several cities.
Lessons from abroad: Curbside check-in is unheard of at most foreign airports. The area outside Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv is patrolled by armed undercover security officers who can stop and question passengers, then alert their colleagues inside the airport to any suspicious individuals. Police at Tokyo's Narita International Airport check the identification of every person entering the airport.

3.Ticket counter: Every passenger must have a government-issued photo ID. Passengers with tickets and photo ID but no luggage to check may bypass the ticket counter. Experts recommend that all passengers be interviewed in depth by law enforcement officials. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act required that screenings be in place for all checked baggage by Jan. 18. However, many airports are choosing to match bags with passengers in lieu of screening bags for explosives, an act which will not dissuade a suicide bomber. By 2003, passenger matching will no longer be allowed as an option for screening checked bags.
Lessons from abroad: Government-trained security personnel interview all passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport for up to 20 minutes before they even get to the ticket counter. Every passenger at Narita International Airport can also expect to be questioned before checking in. Security officers at many European airports interview randomly selected passengers before allowing them to proceed to ticketing. Like many foreign airports, Londons Heathrow International Airport (the largest in Europe) and the Hong Kong International Airport (Asia's largest) inspect all checked baggage. Additionally, airports in Europe and the Middle East employ baggage matching, which requires that every bag checked in be claimed by a specific passenger before boarding. No bags are loaded onto the plane until each passenger is on board.

4.Carry-on baggage: Metal detectors are set on the highest levels. Passengers are limited to one carry-on bag and one personal item. All bags may be subject to individual hand searches after screening. Electronic items, such as laptop computers and cell phone may be subjected to additional screening.
Lessons from abroad: The same restrictions apply in foreign airports.

5.Security checkpoints: Only ticketed passengers are allowed to enter the gate. Passengers may be asked to show their boarding passes and identification. Handheld metal detectors can be used after passage through the walk-through metal detectors.
Lessons from abroad: In addition to checking boarding passes and identification, airport personnel at Ben Gurion apply a security sticker to each passengers boarding pass. The sticker prevents the passenger from re-entering the check-in area and is required during the boarding process. In several European and Asian countries, passengers can expect to be patted down if they set off the metal detector.

6.Waiting areas: FAA agents are roaming airports with bomb-sniffing dogs. National Guard troops are patrolling concourses, checking bags and watching for weapons. The Transportation Security Agency has asked that the Guard remain at airports through May 31, giving the agency time to hire federal screeners and security directors.
Lessons from abroad: Waiting areas of European and Asian airports are patrolled by armed guards. In addition to surveillance, Ben Gurion furnishes waiting areas with an eye toward passenger safety. Throughout the airport there are impact-resistant trash bins that are designed to explode upward.

7.On-board: Armed federal air marshals currently fly on select flights, including all flights in or out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The number of marshals has increased since Sept. 11, giving top priority to nonstop, long-distance flights. Airlines have been fortifying cockpit doors with steel, replacing temporary metal bars installed after the attacks. The cockpit must now be locked during flight. Transponders, the devices that enable ground controllers to track a plane's flight path, will no longer be made inoperable from the cockpit. A debate continues on whether to issue pilots stun guns or other weapons.
Lessons from abroad: European nations are considering adding armed guards to their flights. Israel's leading airline, El Al, already does. El Al planes also have two sets of cockpit doors on its planes. The outer doors are made of steel, and both sets remain secured during the flight. After Sept. 11, Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department ordered certain airlines to keep their cockpit doors locked and to ban passenger visits to flight decks.

8.Ramp passes: There is no standard way of tracking lost ramp passes or ground crew identification. Security experts recommend a better system to track lost IDs.
Lessons from abroad: Lost passes and identification are a universal problem. Many countries, including the United States, are investigating "smart cards" identification cards that incorporate biometric imprints as a solution.

9.Dangerous goods: Items such as manicure sets, aerosol cans and corkscrews are now considered possible weapons. These items should be packed in checked-in luggage.
Lessons from abroad: Similar restrictions have been in place worldwide since the Sept. 11 attacks.

10.Employee screening: The newly created Transportation Security Agency now oversees aviation security rather than the airline industry and Federal Aviation Administration. By November, the TSA is scheduled to have its 30,000-strong workforce fully in place at more than 420 airports across the nation. The screeners will have to be U.S. citizens, fluent in English, with a background check and 100 hours of training under their belts. Some current airport screeners, if hired by the new federal agency, could see their wages triple.
Lessons from abroad: Employees at most foreign airports are required to be citizens of the country they work in. The Israeli government trains all baggage screeners at Ben Gurion International Airport. Japan requires 150 hours of classroom training for its baggage screeners. France requires 60 hours.

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east
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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #1 on: Jul 5^th, 2002, 2:21pm »

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one of them was canadian too...the flight was headed for toronto...not that this changes anything as canadians died in the 9/11 attack too. it just makes it even closer to home for me... Embarassed

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Addams
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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #2 on: Jul 5^th, 2002, 3:19pm »

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I didn't know.

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MzzJoplin
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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #3 on: Jul 5^th, 2002, 3:58pm »

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I didn't know either ...

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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #4 on: Jul 6^th, 2002, 5:40am »

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on Jul 5^th, 2002, 2:21pm, eastendgirl wrote:

one of them was canadian too...the flight was headed for toronto...not that this changes anything as canadians died in the 9/11 attack too. it just makes it even closer to home for me... Embarassed

I have been trying to find out which of the victims was Canadian. Do you know?

Also I have not heard anything here in Toronto about the flight heading here. Any more light or info would be appreciated.

Here's an Associated Press story I found through the canoe.ca website this morning:

Anguished families mourn their loss

By SANDY YANG-- Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The anguished families of two victims killed by a gunman at the Los Angeles airport mourned their loss, recalling one as a generous father and the other as "daddy's girl."

The hail of bullets Thursday at El Al airline's ticket counter killed Yaakov Aminov, who was taking a friend to the airport for a trip home to Israel, along with an airport worker identified as Victoria Hen.

Aminov collapsed in the arms of the friend, Michael Shabtay, said Aminov's brother-in-law, Mark Ezerzer.

"He loved people; he loved everyone," Ezerzer said. "He died taking a friend to the airport."

Friends gathered at the home in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles where Aminov lived with his pregnant wife, Anat, and five children, ages 2 through 9. Cars packed nearby streets, and friends gathered on his front lawn, consoling each other and sharing memories.

Aminov, 46, immigrated from Israel 13 years ago, and built a life as owner of a jewelry store. A former wife and his three other children live in Israel.

He was a devout Orthodox Jew who could be found at the Yad Avraham Temple in North Hollywood around the clock, relatives said, helping with donations and temple renewal projects.

He loved his wife and children, "teaching them the right way," said Mike Moshe, another brother-in-law.

On Saturday nights, Aminov would welcome family and friends into his home, Moshe recalled, and there was always plenty of food and drink.

"It was like a king's house; there was food everywhere," Moshe said. "He would offer you vodka, and if you didn't drink it, it was like you were insulting him."

Hen worked for a company under contract with El Al, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on its English-language Web site edition Friday the 25-year-old woman, hit in the chest by two bullets, was born in Rishon Letzion and raised in Be'er Sheva.

Her parents, Avinoam and Rachel, emigrated to Los Angeles 12 years ago. She also had two younger brothers, Nimrod and Udi.

"She was daddy's girl," her uncle told the newspaper. "The first time her father wasn't next to her, she caught two bullets in the chest." The uncle was not identified by the newspaper.

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east
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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #5 on: Jul 6^th, 2002, 11:30am »

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on my news program, they just announced that there was one canadian, a female. sorry...i will look it up.

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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #6 on: Jul 9^th, 2002, 6:23am »

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Here it is K-A. A Toronto woman was shot but not killed in the incident.

Sarah P decide to take an el Al flight home because she thought she would be safer. El Al offered a non-stop trip to toronto with armed security guards.

It's fortunate she was not killed. She was shot in the ankle. However if the El Al Security guard had not shot the shooter one can only imagine how many others would have died or been injured. She had travelled to California for a wedding. A friend accompanying her to the airport is still in shock and seeking counselling.

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east
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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #7 on: Jul 9^th, 2002, 1:43pm »

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thanks addams

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Re: Three dead in L.A. airport shooting
« Reply #8 on: Jul 9^th, 2002, 2:07pm »

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Actually, thank you! Thanks for letting me know that it was a Toronto bound flight and Canadian woman was hurt. It took days for it to show up in the Toronto press. Guess we are too preoccupied with the size and gestation periods of well fed rats in hot summer weather to think about life and death issues. Poor woman - she is lucky to have survived. Thanks.

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