Three people are now believed to have died and several others were wounded today when an unidentified gunman opened fire on the Israeli national airline El-Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport, police said.
It was unclear whether the shooting was linked to terrorism but it came amid an "elevated" level of alert blanketing the country for the July 4th Independence Day holiday, the first since the September 11th attacks.
Los Angeles Mayor Mr James Hahn said authorities had no indication thus far that a shooting was connected to terrorism.
“We have no information that indicates that this incident is connected to any terrorist or anything else,” the mayor said. “But this matter is under investigation right now."
Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Mr Horace Franks confirmed that "at approximately 11:30 (local time) we received a 911 call of a shooting at (Tom) Bradley (International) terminal, in the area of El-Al airlines." Mr Franks said "one suspect apparently opened fire on another individual and then opened fire on several other persons there at the terminal."
Two people were in custody for questioning, Mr Franks said, part of the "fluid" investigation being jointly conducted by local and federal law enforcement agencies.
The gunman was killed by a security officer with El-Al, considered the world's most secure airline even before the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
Two other individuals are also reported dead.
Witnesses reported hearing eight to ten shots.
El-Al is one of few airlines to have its own security detail, and subjects passengers to stringent inspection before they are allowed to board planes.
Israel immediately branded the shooting a terrorist attack, although the FBI refused comment on whether the accusations were accurate.
Speaking to CNN from Israel, Transportation Minister Mr Ephraim Sneh said while there was no specific information about which organization the gunman was affiliated with, "we have all the basis to assume this was a terrorist attack."
"When a gunman opens fire on El-Al passengers at an international airport, you have to assume it is terrorism." LAPD officer Mr Alex Baez said there was a total of six victims, including the suspect. A second fatality, a woman, was not immediately identified. Two other people were being treated for gunshot wounds, a fifth victim treated for a stab wound and the sixth, an adult female, was taken to a local hospital where she was being treated for cardiac pain.
The entire Bradley terminal, where Korean Airlines and Air France also have their ticket counters, was shut down, and the rest of the airport was being evacuated, Mr Baez said.
Television footage showed airplanes grounded on runways, but it was unknown whether they would be turned back and their passengers let off.
"We are trying to bring everything under control, trying to locate witnesses," Mr Franks told reporters.
The terminal was ringed with emergency vehicles, including firetrucks and ambulances, television footage showed, as people teemed out of the terminal.
Los Angeles airport was shut down as ambulances and police cars flooded the area to take away victims. No details of the motive for the crime were immediately available.
Mr Thad Weimlein, a passenger preparing to take an international flight from the Bradley terminal, told CNN that after the "initial flurry of fire" there was "silence." Then "firing started again" as police "pulled out their guns" and called for other travelers to "stay undercover."
"Today was supposed to be a pretty secure day," he told the news channel.
Mr Isaac Yeffet, the former director of general security for the airline, told a reporter that the security guard acted appropriately by fatally shooting the gunman.
"Security surround(s) the passengers in different positions to make sure that if a terrorist is coming to open fire he will be killed immediately. And this is what happened," he said, noting two previous attempts by would-be terrorists in public areas at Paris and Brussels airports were contained "after 30 seconds" by El-Al security.
"If he comes to kill he has to be killed immediately," he added.