Report of person with gun led to LAX terminal evacuation, grounding of air traffic

A report of a person with a gun led to the evacuation of a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport and flight delays as authorities grounded all air traffic Thursday night, authorities confirmed.

The report came in around 7:30 p.m. for a person with a gun in Terminal 1, airport officials said.

“Approximately 300 passengers self-evacuated from the terminal onto the airfield,” they said. “Airport police responded and detained one person for further investigation.”

Police did not find weapons and no shots were fired, officials said.

Airport police detained two people “for further investigation,” officials said.

Lt. Karla Rodriguez, an airport police spokeswoman, confirmed both people detained were men.

Authorities were still working late Thursday to piece together the chain of events that led to the evacuation.

Although confirmed information was scant, Rodriguez said one of the men was allegedly chasing the other and that the man being chased may have believed the other was armed.

Two other people suffered “minor to moderate injuries” while fleeing the terminal, officials said. They were treated by the Los Angeles Fire Department. One of the people was taken to a hospital for further treatment.

In response to the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration “initiated a ground stop for flights at LAX,” officials said. The FAA has allowed operations to resume on the south side of the airfield, officials said around 8:19 p.m.

The Transportation Security Administration moved additional agents to Terminal 1 to move travelers back inside, officials said.

All runways had reopened and traffic was moving normally by around 9 p.m., airport officials said.