LAX Terminal Evacuated in Search for Gun
A Los Angeles International Airport terminal was evacuated Sunday after a baggage X-ray machine showed what appeared to be a handgun in a woman’s purse.
It was the third time in a month that an airport terminal was evacuated because of the believed sighting of a weapon.
The owner of the bag was not located, said airport spokeswoman Cora Fossett.
Security staff at the X-ray machine noticed the image Sunday afternoon and called police, but the woman picked up the bag and left before a security supervisor arrived, Fossett said.
Police searched the crowd but did not find her.
Terminal 7, which held about 700 people, was evacuated and searched for about 90 minutes, Fossett said. The search yielded 35 pounds of marijuana in a coin-operated locker.
Terminal 7, which serves United Airlines and is one of the airport’s busiest, was reopened around 4:30 p.m. Two flights were delayed because of the incident.
On Aug. 16, Terminal 1 was evacuated after security staff noticed what looked like a gun in a bag. The item turned out to be a teenager’s gun-shaped lighter. On Aug. 6, a woman carried a gun past security screening, prompting an evacuation affecting 4,500 people.
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