Paul Ciancia, 23, the unemployed motorcycle mechanic behind the shooting at the Los Angeles airport was looking to kill as many employees of the Transportation Security Administration as he could, in order to “instill fear in their traitorous minds,” AP reported.
Ciancia was so eager to kill TSA officers, that after having shot one and gone up an escalator, he returned, noticed the officer had moved and went back to finish him off, surveillance video shows.
U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. described the events at LAX beginning with Ciancia walking into Terminal 3, pulling a Smith & Wesson .223-caliber assault rifle from his duffel bag and firing repeatedly at point-blank range at a TSA officer who was checking IDs and boarding passes by an escalator leading to the main screening area.
After killing the officer, Ciancia shot and wounded two other TSA employees and a passenger. Airport police eventually shot him as frightened passengers hid in stores and restaurants.
Ciancia’s duffel bag contained a signed, handwritten letter saying he had “made the conscious decision to try to kill” many TSA employees, in order to stir fear in them, an FBI spokesperson said.
Ciancia is hospitalized after being hit four times and wounded in the mouth and leg.