Did you notice that LAPD was falling over itself to say how much it did during this incident.  However, apparently it was the El Al Security that wasted the scumbag.  I dont think they mentioned it or gave El Al any credit.

And the mayors comment about guns...I guess he wouldn't know what to blame it on if they had used a knife or car bomb.  He is a bitch.  What a fool.

They did use a knife.

Exactly

I would like to know eXactly how they could dismiss this incident as "not being terror related" so fast?

At that BS press conference, the FBI guy refused to give us a desc. of the suspect.  

Thats because the City of LA was lying, the FBI never really said that it wasn't terrorism, since the deceased could not possibly been positively ID'd in the short amount of time. If you don't know who he is you don't know it isn't terrorism.  The City of LA said that shit cause they are far more concerned with their apperance and scaring off the tourists than the truth...

Having said that, the description of the man and his actions doesn't sound like terrorism, sound more like someone going postal.

Amen

LAPD showed their true colors in the first hours of the Rodney King riots.
Out here in LA-LA land it's every man for himself.

Its not just the LAPD. The whole government out there is agaisnt you. The ban on semi-auto rifles and high capacity magazines has only one conceviable purpose- to protect the next generation of rioters and looters...

Think again. The ban on semi-auto rifles and [b]standard[/b] capacity magazines has only one conceivable purpose -to protect the police and feds when people finally get tired of being treated like cash cows and sheep.

[b]Nobody[/b] in government cares about rioters and looters. But if you've got a gun to protect yourself against groups of rioters, then you've got a gun to protect yourself against groups of cops, or national guardsmen, or Gray Davis' CAGE ([s]Chicago[/s]California Anti Gun Enforcement) Teams that I'm sure are on the drawing board in Sacramento.

Im sure you all heard the mayor's brilliant comment that there are just too many guns out there. Im sure you all agree RIGHT! I wrote already and reminded him that LAX is a perfect place for an attack like this. One of the most unarmed cities in the US, in a building that wont allow armed citizens....its like shooting fish in a barrel. Until the El Al cats ding ya'that is. This knucklehead was stabbing people too, so hide your pocket knives folks, the mayor and his cronies will be knocking on your door for those too. "Knock, knock, knock....It's the LAPD....you got anything sharp in there. Come on out peacefully so one of our fed snipers can shoot you in the face (and get away with it)"
Here's the mayor's email adress if you want to drop him a line.
[email protected]

I heard on Fox News that there are conflicting reports as to wether the guy was shot and then tackled or tackled and then shot.  Either way, the bad guy/terrorist is dead.  What is the problem what happened first?

Keving67

Exactly.  

Knowing some Libs, they'll make it an issue.... something about how the person's rights were violated and that deadly force wasn't really needed (if it was a knife...)

On Fox they were talking to some Israeli Security guy, not sure if he's the main guy or a lower level one but he was saying the security personel are grabbed from the Army and trained for months and taught to deal with the situation within 30 seconds...not bad at all.  Especially when a lot can happen in 30 seconds and it could get even worse after that...

Here is what the L.A. Times is officially reporting so far.
=====================================================
Los Angeles Times: Gunman Kills 2 at LAX Terminal

[url]http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-laxshoot5jul05.story[/url]

Gunman Kills 2 at LAX Terminal

FBI identifies shooter as Egyptian-born resident of Irvine.
By KENNETH R. WEISS and MITCHELL LANDSBERG
TIMES STAFF WRITERS

July 5 2002

An Egyptian-born man pulled a gun and opened fire Thursday at the busy LAX
ticket counter of El Al Israel Airlines, killing two people and wounding several
others before an airline guard shot him dead, authorities said. The attack
delayed thousands of passengers and closed the airport's international terminal
for hours.

Although Israeli officials said they believed the shooting was an act of
terrorism, U.S. authorities said it appeared to be an isolated incident.

FBI officials said the shooter had two driver's licenses, one identifying him as
Hesham Mohamed Hadayet and the other as Hesham Mohamed Ali. He was 41, entered
the country in 1992 and was a resident of Irvine. One of the licenses listed his
birth date as the Fourth of July.

When police arrived at the man's apartment, they found a note on the door
saying, "Read the Koran."

Passengers and others who witnessed the attack said the gunman appeared to grow
agitated while talking to a ticket agent at the El Al counter. He pulled out a
gun and shot her, then began firing at people in line, witnesses said.

"There were people laying all over the floor. There was blood," said Arie Golan,
who joined a security guard in wrestling the man to the floor.

Witnesses said the security guard shot the man once at close range after the
attacker had been disarmed and was being held on the floor.

The shooting occurred at an airport that has been on high alert for a terrorist
attack, on a holiday when the entire nation was warned to be on the lookout, and
at the counter of an airline generally considered to have the best security in
the world.

The gunfire, which began just before 11:30 a.m., forced the evacuation of the
Tom Bradley International Terminal, delaying 35 outbound flights and 10,500
passengers. Delays stretched up to eight hours. The south section of the
terminal reopened at 4:30 p.m., but the rest remained closed while the FBI
completed its investigation of the shooting scene.

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, who unveiled a $9.6-billion reconstruction plan
for LAX this week, said he plans to reassess airport security. He said security
now focuses on preventing passengers from getting on a plane with weapons, not
screening people at ticket counters.

-- continued --

"Our airport security is much like airport security around the world," Hahn
said. "The perimeter you establish for protection is just outside the area where
the airplanes are and the gates. Parking lots, lobbies, ticketing areas are not
past those security points--they're before them."

An FBI official in Los Angeles, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said
the gunman carried no identification but investigators were able to identify him
through other means. Authorities also said they had found Hadayet's vehicle in
an airport parking garage.

The dead bystanders were Israeli emigre Jacob Aminov, 46, a diamond importer who
lived in North Hollywood, and a woman the Israeli Consulate identified as Vicky
Chen, a 20-year-old Israeli working for a company under contract with El Al.

Among those injured, Sarah Phillips, 61, a Canadian, was shot in the foot and
reported in stable condition at Centinela Medical Center, police said. The
others were treated for heart palpitations and other stress-related ailments and
released, authorities said.

Aminov was taken to King-Drew Medical Center, where grief-stricken family
members gathered. They described Aminov as a hard-working, devoutly religious
man, and said he was seeing friends off at the airport when he was shot. He was
hit at least once in the chest, doctors said.

Aminov was in cardiac arrest when he arrived by ambulance at the hospital
shortly after noon, said Dr. Jean-Claude Henry. Doctors worked on him for nearly
an hour before declaring him dead, Henry said.

Aminov's wife, who is pregnant with the couple's sixth child, was at the
hospital when she learned her husband could not be saved. By coincidence, Aminov
was a friend and neighbor of Golan, the man who helped subdue the shooter.
Golan, 54, said he spotted Aminov in the check-in line, walked over to say
hello, and then was on his way outside to smoke a cigarette when the shooting
began.

Dozens of people watched the attack unfold as they stood in line at El Al and
surrounding airline counters in the crowded terminal.

Guillermo Fergoza was with his wife, Yolanda, about 25 feet away when he noticed
a man talking to an agent at the El Al counter. "They started arguing at the
counter," said Fergoza, who was at the airport to put his son on a flight. "He
stepped back and pulled the gun out of his waistband. A lot of people started
falling to the floor."

Two brothers, Paul and David Parkus, were standing in line at a nearby Singapore
Airlines ticket counter.

"I heard 'pop, pop, pop!' and spun around and saw this guy shooting away," said
Paul Parkus, a 38-year-old Los Angeles photographer. "The El Al guys came over
the top of the counter" and tackled the shooter, they said.

David Parkus, 39, a trauma surgeon from Beaumont, Texas, said he ran to the
ticket counter and helped the guards subdue the gunman, whom he described as
weighing 200 to 250 pounds. The man stabbed at least one of the security guards,
Parkus said.

-- continued --

Golan, a 54-year-old veteran of the Israeli army who was on his way to visit his
grandchildren in Israel, described a similar scene, differing on some details.

"I heard a lot of shots, maybe 15 or 20. It was very quick. I heard the shots,
turned, and I saw the security guard jump over the rope," he said. As the guard
began grappling with the shooter, Golan said, he dashed over to help.

"I just wanted to stop him," he said. "I jumped on him. He still had the gun in
his hand. It was a small gun, maybe a .22. We wrestled him to the ground."

Golan said the shooter lost his grip on the gun, which fell and skittered out of
reach across the floor. According to witnesses, as the two men struggled to hold
down the shooter, who was lying on his back, another El Al security guard ran
over, stood over the man and shot him once in the abdomen.

Golan recounted his role as he sat on a curb outside the terminal, his clothes
splattered with dime-size drops of blood, a cigarette held in a trembling hand.

He described the shooter as powerfully built, about 5-foot-10, his hair tinged
with gray.

FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said the man carried .45-caliber and 9mm handguns,
as well as a six-inch knife. A law enforcement source said the gunman also
carried additional ammunition clips.

At the man's apartment in Irvine, FBI, LAPD, immigration officers and Irvine
police had set up a cordon and were preparing to search the home late Thursday.
Police said the man's wife and two elementary school-age sons were not home when
they arrived and their whereabouts were unknown.

A neighbor, who would not give his name, said that his wife and the gunman's
wife had volunteered together at a local elementary school. "They seemed like
nice people. It's all pretty shocking to us," the man said. Neighbors said the
man worked for a limousine service and was seldom seen outside the apartment
except when he stepped out to smoke.

During a 30-minute news conference Thursday afternoon, authorities said they
believed the shooting was an isolated incident. Still, an FBI official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said later that authorities had not ruled out
terrorism as a motive.

Israel's consul general in Los Angeles, Yuval Rotem, said he did not believe it
was random.

"It seems like a terrorist attack and it looks like a terrorist attack," he
said, based in part on past airport killings. Rotem cited a 1985 attack at the
Rome airport that killed 17 people, as well as incidents in Paris, London and
other European cities.

The gunman did not say anything while he was shooting, Rotem said. But he added,
"It was very obvious. He was trying to target and gun down as many Israelis as
he can. It may turn out to be one more attack against Israel."

Rotem credited Haim Sapir, the chief of El Al security, with saving lives. He
said Sapir was stabbed and shot before shooting the man.

-- continued --

Guard 'a Hero'

"He's a hero," Rotem said. "He and his colleagues were able to save many
passengers."

Sapir, believed to be in his early 40s, was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center.

Rotem said the attack would not interfere with El Al's daily operations.

"Our answer to terrorism is to be as normal as we can even if it's an abnormal
situation,' he said.

The FBI took charge of the investigation, with the Los Angeles Police Department
acting as an assisting agency.

Acting LAPD Chief Martin Pomeroy said additional police would be deployed at the
airport, beginning today. He urged people to continue with holiday celebrations,
and Hahn encouraged the public to continue flying.

"There's no reason for the traveling public to shy away from air travel," the
mayor said.

Most flights in and out of the airport continued to operate normally throughout
the day, which launched a four-day weekend for many people. During the time that
the Bradley terminal was closed, passengers waited outside on the lawn, reading
books on benches, standing on top of parking structures and watching the
terminal.

El Al, the Israeli national air carrier, prides itself on having the industry's
most stringent security. It places undercover armed guards on every flight, much
of its airport ground staff is also armed and cockpits are reinforced to prevent
unauthorized entry. Israel noted that its airliners have not fallen victim to
air piracy for more than two decades.

El Al points to its rigorous screening as its best defense. From the moment a
traveler purchases a ticket for an El Al flight, the person's name and data are
sent to Israeli intelligence. Once a passenger reports to an airport, he or she
is subject to intensive questioning.

It varies from airport to airport, but El Al officials occasionally call the
traveler's contacts in Israel to verify information.

Questioning is often intrusive and searches can be extremely thorough, to the
point of shaking each piece of underwear in a suitcase and unscrewing every
bottle of makeup or shampoo.

If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
latimes.com/archives. For information about reprinting this article, go to
www.lats.com/rights.

Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times

So was he a practicing muslim or what?  No mention in that article.

Yes he is, there is little doubt of that...

here is a blurb from our "friends" at the NY Times.
==========================================================
[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/05/national/05SECU.html[/url]

An Attack Where Security Is Probably the World's Tightest

July 5, 2002

An Attack Where Security Is Probably the World's Tightest
By RICK LYMAN

OS ANGELES, July 4 — Terrorists usually try to attack strong targets at
their weakest point, security experts contend. But if the shooting today
at Los Angeles International Airport was terrorism — as Israeli officials
believe, although American officials disagree — then it was an attack on
perhaps the airport's strongest point.
El Al is famous for its strict security procedures, many of which were
adopted by American airlines in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and has
undercover agents on every plane and armed guards at every ticket counter.

In addition, El Al recently increased its security procedures.
"Means of security have been reinforced and security checks of passengers,
air crew and El Al planes throughout the world have been increased," the
airline said after today's attack, although it said the unspecified
changes had been made with no specific concerns about the Los Angeles
airport.
"Unfortunately, we are very trained to engage all kinds of terrorist
acts," said Yuval Rotem, Israel's consul-general in Los Angeles.
Israeli officials have been ratcheting up security on El Al since the
1960's, when it became a target of attacks and hijackings. The only
successful hijacking of an El Al jet was in 1968, when a flight from Rome
was diverted to Algiers by Palestinian nationalists. In 1985, the airline
suffered its most recent major attack, when Palestinians attacked the
check-in counters at the airports in Rome and Vienna with guns and
grenades, leaving 18 people dead.
El Al has been successful in thwarting hijackings and in creating the most
thorough system for screening passengers and baggage. It requires
passengers to arrive at least two hours before their flights for security
checks and questioning, uses special compression chambers to check baggage
for air-pressure bombs and protects its cockpits with double doors.
Its passengers are unapologetically profiled. While most Israeli Jews
quickly pass through security inspection, Arabs and certain other
foreigners are singled out for intense questioning.
"I think there is no end for security measures to be installed in order to
prevent any kinds of events of this nature," Mr. Rotem said of today's
attack. "But again, it's up to the Americans to decide the level and the
degree of security arrangements to be given and to be done in your own
airports."

-- continued --

That was pretty much what Mayor James K. Hahn of Los Angeles said today.
The mayor, who just two days earlier proposed a $9.6 billion renovation of
the airport that would include off-property screening of all passengers
and luggage, said the plan needed quick study now.
As long as private vehicles are allowed onto airport property, adjacent to
departure terminals, and as long as passengers and friends are not
required to pass through metal detectors until they leave the public
terminal for their gates, the possibility of attacks will remain, Mr. Hahn
said.
"I think we need to take a long look at all of our security procedures,"
he said. "We need to see what further steps should be taken to protect the
entire terminal area."

Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

[url]ttp://cbs2.com/holiday/AP/APTV/State/CA/n/CA--AirportShooting-W-kn/news_html[/url]

Doctor sees shooting, holds dying gunman

By RYAN PEARSON
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) Trauma surgeon David Parkus waded into a deadly airport gunfight, helping to subdue the gunman and trying to save his victims.

The Beaumont, Texas, doctor was standing in a ticket line about 30 feet from the Israeli El Al airline counter Thursday when a man opened fire, killing two people and wounding three before being killed himself.

Parkus' account provides key details of the attack, which the FBI and Los Angeles police have refused to describe beyond saying it didn't appear linked to terrorism.

Parkus, 39 and director of the trauma surgery unit at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, was standing in line at the Singapore Airlines ticket counter.

Parkus said he heard five or six shots in rapid succession, then turned to see the gunman wrestling with an El Al security guard.

``Then another security agent charged right at the guy and fired two or three times point-blank,'' Parkus said.

When the gunman fell, Parkus ran to him and grabbed his leg.

``And a long hunting knife fell out,'' he said.

Parkus held the gunman's legs for about a minute as the security agent held his arms.

``I could feel all his strength go out as he was dying,'' Parkus said. Then he performed CPR on two victims.

One victim, a man later identified as Yaakov Aminov, a 46-year-old father of eight, had a gunshot wound through the chest.

``I couldn't feel a pulse,'' Parkus said, adding that he was certain the man was already dead when he was performing CPR.

He also performed CPR on a woman who had a gunshot wound that went through her right ankle.

One security guard was hit on the forehead with the butt of the gun and had a laceration on the right arm, Parkus said. The other security guard who shot the gunman had a laceration on the lower back, a stab wound on the rear left thigh, and a superficial gunshot wound on the lower right thigh, the doctor said.

-- continued --

Parkus was headed home after visiting relatives in Manila, Philippines. He said he was apprehensive about going because of violence in that country.

``I didn't think it was going to happen here,'' he said.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

© MMII, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved.

[url]http://cbs2.com/holiday/AP/APTV/State/CA/n/CA--AirportShooting-G-kn/news_html[/url]

LA Airport shooter was quiet, but touchy about flag display

By CHELSEA CARTER
Associated Press Writer

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) The neighbors of gunman Hesham Mohamed Hadayet knew him as a quiet man with a friendly young son, but also a someone offended by a patriotic American display.

Hadayet, 41, who also went by the last name Ali, was shot dead by an airline security guard at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday after he opened fire at an El Al airline ticket counter, killing two people and injuring four.

The limo driver had come to the United States 10 years ago. He ended up living with his wife and two children in a small apartment building at the Woodbridge Pines development, a middle-class neighborhood between restaurants and a shopping center in suburban Orange County.

Neighbors said he lived quietly, but became incensed when an upstairs neighbor hung large American and Marine Corps flags from a balcony above his front door after Sept. 11. The flags remained there Thursday night.

``He complained about it to the apartment manager. He thought it was being thrown in his face,'' said Steve Thompson, 39.

Hadayet and his wife were quiet and kept to themselves, said Anthony Martinez, 25, whose nephew attended first grade this year with one of the Hadayet sons, Omar.

``The boy was really friendly,'' Martinez said.

Omar left school a week before classes ended, telling schoolmates he was going to Egypt for the summer, Martinez said.

Martinez occasionally saw the wife and a younger boy, but the woman rarely spoke.

Hadayet ran his livery service, Five Star Limo, from his apartment at 5 Willow Run, a ground-floor apartment in one of a dozen similar small buildings in the development.

Police showed up after 6 p.m. to search the apartment for Hadayet's wife and children, but neighbors said they were in Egypt, said Irvine police Lt. Sam Allevato.

``We certainly hope that's true,'' Allevato said.

-- continued --

Police then sealed the apartment to wait for the FBI to arrive with a search warrant. Allevato declined to say what police saw in the apartment. Police also searched a Toyota Camry parked in the apartment's assigned space.

Hours later, neighbors still milled around outside.

Shawn Salehin, 34, said he learned of the shooting after he heard helicopters over the apartment complex.

``There were police all over the place,'' Salehin said. ``It's sad. I can't believe it's right here.''

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

© MMII, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved.

Thank you for posting this warlord!

Now I am betting that this is a terrorist conspiricy.

If he had been single and down on his luck, a random attack, motivated by anti-American or anti-Israeli rage would make sense.

But when I saw he was married with a kid and still did this, then it dont make sense UNLESS he had someone who was going to see to it that his family would be cared for.

And that means a conspiricy...

Don't jump the gun, it is pre-mature to conclude anything as of 7/5. I personally would withhold judgement at this point.

Whether or not it was terrorism, the El Al security team WAS responsible for dropping the freak.

I remember a similar mishandling of information last year with the West Virginia law school shooting where several students reportedly "subdued" the attacker. In reality they hightailed it to their cars to retrieve their weapons. The attacker was subdued with other firearms.

The media lies.

True, true. But I wonder was it legal for El Al security people to possess guns in a public building? L.A. City/County issues zero permits.

I have no idea regarding the specifics, but I bet there's a loophole for security personnel under some diplomatic immunity clause. Maybe the same rules as foriegn dignitary or corporation?

I dunno.

Here is a report from the Orange County Register, which cover Irvine, Calif.
=========================================================
[url]http://www.ocregister.com/news/5laxshoot9cci1.shtml[/url]

Irvine man starts LAX gun battle that kills three
FBI at Hesham Hedayet's home, preparing to search premises.

July 5, 2002

From staff and news-service reports

Hesham Hedayet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOS ANGELES – A gunman who lived in Irvine opened fire at an El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, killing two people before he was shot to death by a security guard.

Four people also were wounded in the gunbattle and resulting melee, including Haim Sapir, the Israeli national airline’s security chief at LAX, who is credited with killing the attacker in cavernous Tom Bradley International Terminal. Other news sources spelled the name Safir or Sapil.

Federal Bureau of Investigation officials said they believe that 41-year-old Hesham Mohamed Hedayet, who moved to the United States from Egypt 10 years ago, approached the El Al ticket counter carrying a Glock .45-caliber pistol, a Glock 9mm pistol and a 6-inch knife. The suspect "had extra ammunition and magazines ready to go," said Matt McLaughlin, an FBI spokesman.

But authorities were not sure this morning why Hedayet, who was born on July 4, 1961, chose to open fire. The assailant is a legal resident alien whoworked as a limousine driver, said Matt McLaughlin, an FBI spokesman.

A company named Five Star – Limo was listed at his home address. The company Web site says Five Star serves local airports including LAX and John Wayne Airport.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As of 3:00 a.m. today, the FBI was searching Hedayet’s apartment in the Woodbridge Pines Apartments. There was a bumper sticker on the front door of the apartment that said, "Read the Quran."

The FBI said Hedayet appeared to be acting alone when he opened fire with the .45-caliber handgun. "We’ve never said it’s not terrorism," McLaughlin said. "We can’t rule that out, but there’s nothing to indicate anyone else was involved."

But Israeli officials had a different view.

"It seems like terrorism. It looks like terrorism," Israel’s consul general in Los Angeles, Yuval Rotem, told a news conference.

"The way it was conducted was very much similar to previous attacks at El Al counters throughout European countries. And therefore given this history we presume that it may be, and would appear to be, a terrorist attack."

The shooting at LAX started at 11:32 a.m. when the gunman began firing a handgun near the El Al counter while passengers were arriving for a flight to Israel, a witness said. The assailant was described as 6 feet tall, 230 pounds and dressed in a blue blazer, slacks and a red tie.

Scores of people dove behind counters, hid in offices and sprinted out of the terminal to avoid gunfire that some people initially mistook for fireworks.

 
Investigators remove items from Hedayet's apartment.
Photo: Chris Carlson / The Orange County Register

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time the shooting stopped, Yaakov Aminov, 46, of Los Angeles, was fatally wounded. He died during surgery at Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center. Aminov reportedly had eight children and his wife was pregnant.

A woman in her 20s also was fatally shot. The airline said she was an employee of a company that provides ground services to El Al.

A 61-year-old woman was shot in the ankle, a 40-year-old man was knifed and a man in his 20s was treated for injuries from a pistol whipping, authorities said.

The shooting broke out while David Parkus, a 39-year-old trauma surgeon from Beaumont, Texas, was standing a short distance away near the Singapore Airlines counter, the Houston Chronicle reported. The attacker "got off about four or five shots," Parkus said. "Everybody hit the ground."

Parkus helped tackle the assailant, who was tussling with an El Al security guard.

"The security guard was smaller than the gunman and was having trouble with him, so I ran over to help him out," Parkus said.

Another security guard - Sapir - shot and leaped on the attacker. Parkus grabbed the gunman’s legs after he had stabbed the two guards several times. Then Parkus said he felt the man die as he held him. He had been shot at least three times.

 
An investigator inspects a car.
Photo: Chris Carlson / The Orange County Register

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shootout spawned panic, and police quickly evacuated about 6,000 people from the Bradley terminal, most of whom were stranded outside for hours as law-enforcement helicopters buzzed overhead in a scene broadcast across the nation on a holiday in which police were on high alert for a possible terrorist attack.

Thousands of other passengers were affected as 35 flights affecting 10,500 passengers were delayed by the shooting and the resulting chaos at LAX, which was expected to handle 900,000 passengers during the holiday weekend. No flights were canceled, and airport operations were expected to return to normal today.

-- continue --

The Pho family of Anaheim Hills was among those stranded outside the Bradley terminal after the shooting.

Linh Pho, 41, and Viet Pho, 45, were planning to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary by flying to Thailand with their children, Karolyn Pho, 13, and Vinh Pho, 18.

Linh thought it would be safer to fly on July 4 even though many of her friends asked her, "Are you sure you want to travel on that day?"

Yes, she told them. "I had faith in the system. Now look at what happened," she said. But Linh Pho said she wasn’t afraid to get on a plane. "You could stay at home instead and a plane would land on your house."

"It’s kind of disappointing. It shouldn’t have happened on July 4," Viet Pho, her husband, added.

Canh Tran, 58, from Irvine, battled clogged traffic to try to get to the Bradley terminal. Airport traffic officials waved all cars away from the airport entrance, and vehicles just started pulling off to the side, prompting more panic and confusion. Passengers, including Tran, spilled out of their cars. They began walking about two miles to Bradley terminal with luggage on their backs.

"This is crazy," said Tran as he began his trek. He arrived at the airport at 12:30, well in advance of his 4 p.m. flight to Amsterdam. His daughter, Lydia Tran, 17, worried about her father getting on his flight but wished him well anyway as she drove away.

By 9 p.m. Thursday evening, authorities had descended on Hedayet's apartment, one of three units in an apartment complex.
 
Investigators await a search warrant at the apartment of the July 4th LAX shooting suspect in Irvine.
Photo: Chris Carlson / The Orange County Register

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherrina Thurman, a neighbor in the Woodbridge Pines Apartments, said that Hedayet seemed to be a devout Muslim whose family kept to themselves. She said his wife and two children, left on vacation earlier this week. Thurman said the family had lived in the complex about three years.

The FBI said at 2:45 a.m. today that they had had contact with the Hedayet family and that they were OK. But investigators would not elaborate on the situation.

Police were investigating a rumor among neighbors that Hedayet was annoyed by the presence of the American flag, and Marine Corps flag, that hung from an apartment above his first floor dwelling.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Register staff writers Gary Robbins, Valerie Godines, Rachanee Srisavasdi, John Gittelsohn, Anh Do, Mathis Chazanov and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright 2002
The Orange County Register