LAX Evacuated: At Least They Got the Guy in the Zorro Costume

LAX was cleared last night to search for a shooter who didn’t exist.

Apparently there was a ‘loud noise’ of indeterminate origin so passengers were evacuated from the terminal, with their stuff left behind them in many cases. An FAA ground stop was issued. Two dozen flights were diverted, most to Ontario. Chaos ensued:

Initial reports of an active shooter in Terminal 8 meant that “passengers in several LAX terminals self-evacuated onto the tarmac and rushed through federal security screening without being properly screened,” an airport statement said.

At last police managed to detain a man in a Zorro costume.

It took awhile to get back into the terminal.

When a similar incident happened at New York JFK a couple of weeks ago, things didn’t go well there either, with TSA agents running through the terminal screaming about a bomb and a shooting (both of which were false).

There’s something appropriate, I guess, that unidentified “things that go bump in the night” are the new terror at airports in the U.S. How long until we’re not allowed to speak above a whisper when we fly?

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. To be fair, it doesn’t take much for me to want to leave LAX as quickly as possible, lol

  2. Hold the excitement, folks. We’ll need confirmation from the appropriate authorities, but unless I miss my guess that’s an ersatz Zorro and an indentity thief, to boot. He looks nothing at all like Tyrone Power.

  3. Nice crowd on the sidewalk. At least their girth will limit building damage if something does happen.
    #ALWAYSWEDGEBETWEENFATPEOPLE

  4. Whilst in a hotel room in the USA, I heard some loud bangs, in any other country, I would have thought it is some vehicle backfire, but now that I’m in USA, I looked around for a place to hide.

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