The Hindu : Shooting at Los Angeles airport; 2 killed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 05, 2002

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Shooting at Los Angeles airport; 2 killed

LOS ANGELES JuLY 4. Gunfire erupted on Thursday at the ticket counter of Israel's El Al airlines at the Los Angeles International Airport killing two persons, police said.

The shooting occurred at midday of a holiday, Independence Day, with security around the United States on high alert for a possible terrorist attack. Police said a gunman approached someone at the Tom Bradley International Terminal and opened fire.

One of the two killed was the gunman, said Alex Baez, a police spokesman. No other details were immediately available.

After the shooting, much of the airport was closed and thousands of people were evacuated.

At first, ``a lot of people thought it was fireworks and a prank,'' Thad Weimlein, a witness, told CNN. At least five ambulances were at the airport, where planes continued to land and take off soon after the shooting.

Earlier, the U.S. President, George W Bush, on the first Independence Day since the September 11 terrorist attacks, vowed that the U.S. would use ``overwhelming power in the defence of freedom'' around the world.

Addressing veterans at Ripley in West Virginia, he recalled the attacks on New York and Washington, which he said had united the country in grief. — AP

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