Alleged LAX shooter indicted by federal grand jury

The man accused in the fatal shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on 11 felony counts, including murder and attempted murder, prosecutors announced.

Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, was charged with the murder of Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez and attempted murder of TSA Officers Tony Grigsby and James Speer, who were wounded in the Nov. 1 attack.

Ciancia, a New Jersey native living in Sun Valley at the time, faces two additional counts related to Hernandez’s death: knowingly using a semiautomatic rifle to murder and cause death, and committing violence at an international airport that resulted in death.

DOCUMENT: Read the indictment

He faces three counts that he did “knowingly carry, brandish, discharge and use a firearm” when he allegedly shot Grigsby, Speer and Brian Ludmer, a Calabasas teacher who was also wounded. The final three counts are related to allegations that Ciancia used the Smith & Wesson M&P-15 to commit acts of violence at an international airport.

Each of the charges related to Hernandez’s death carry the possibility of the death penalty or life in federal prison, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Federal prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek the death penalty should Ciancia be convicted.

The 15-page indictment also alleges Ciancia “committed the offense after substantial planning and premeditation to cause the death of a person and to commit an act of terrorism.”

Ciancia allegedly targeted TSA workers in the attack and had written in a signed note that he wanted to kill TSA agents and “instill fear in their traitorous minds,” authorities said. Witnesses to the shooting said the gunman asked whether they worked for the TSA before moving on.

Ciancia was shot in the head and leg during a gun battle with airport police. He spent more than two weeks at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center before he was released into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

He made his first court appearance Dec. 4, when he went before a judge in a courtroom inside the Rancho Cucamonga jail. In the brief arraignment hearing, the judge denied bail, citing the potential of him being a flight risk and a danger to the community.

When asked if he understood the charges he faced, Ciancia replied in a hoarse whisper: “Yes.”

Ciancia is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday’s indictment Dec. 26.

ALSO:

Army vet-father killed in hit-and-run; leads sought

Mega Millions jackpot: Long odds, but these shops have a record

Glendale councilman wants DreamWorks to pay bill for Obama visit

Twitter: @katemather | Google+
kate.mather@latimes.com