by MEGAN ROMANCZUK Section Editor
A gunman entered Los Angeles International Airport on November 1, 2013, killing one person and leaving three wounded.
The shooter, Paul Ciancia, resides in Los Angeles and is now charged with the murder of a federal officer, as well as commission of violence in an international airport.
Days before the shooting, Ciancia, 23, begged one of his three roommates to take him to the airport so he could visit his sick father in New Jersey.
On that Friday, Ciancia urgently needed a ride to the airport and would not take no for an answer.
The shooter has no history of mental illness, although texts to his family members may say otherwise since he seemed unhappy. The messages were so alarming that his own father called the police.
When the police arrived at his apartment, it was already too late as Ciancia was on his way to the airport.
Ciancia arrived at the airport and made his way to the Transportation Security Administration in Terminal 3. He then pulled a .223 caliber assault rifle out of his bag and shot TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez.
As Ciancia was walking to the elevator, he shot Hernandez one more time just to make sure he was dead.
Two other TSA Officers were wounded, but were released from the hospital. A traveler was shot in the leg, but there is no information on how he is doing.
Airport officers shot Ciancia multiple times in the chest, face, and neck.
The incident did not physically harm those at the airport, but it did hurt 167,050 travelers with delays or diversions to other airports.
On Saturday, an additional 40 flights were affected, and an additional 30 flights were canceled, which impacted 4,000 passengers.
Altogether, 919 flights were either canceled or delayed that weekend due to the shooting.
Ciancia was listed in critical condition at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Sunday. If he is found guilty of the shooting, he could face the death penalty or a life sentence without parole.
“These shootings are becoming an epidemic and we need to find a cure,” says senior Danielle Paxton
It is upsetting that shootings are becoming more prevalent in today’s world. Going out to shopping malls, movie theaters, or airports once seemed like safe places to visit, until recently where these public places have seen the most shootings.
Parents have more fear in sending their child to school ever since last year’s Sandy Hook shooting, which involved elementary students, as well as Columbine, where two students decided to go to their high school with guns and a plan to hurt their peers.
“Why is it such a issue to pass gun control laws or have screenings of gun buyers to see if they have mental illness so we can avoid risking more innocent people,” says senior Kaitlin Grassi
It is time to decrease the list of people getting killed by guns and stop wondering where those people may have been in future years when it could have been easily avoided in the first place.
Do you think gun control laws will be passed in the next year or so due to recent shootings?
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