Crime & Safety

No Bail for Sun Valley Man Suspected of LAX Shooting

By City News Service

The Sun Valley man accused of carrying out a shooting spree inside Los Angeles International Airport, killing a security agent and wounding three other people, was ordered Wednesday to remain jailed without bail.

Paul Anthony Ciancia made a brief appearance at a courtroom at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where he is being held. He was ordered to remain jailed without bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge David T. Bristow, who determined that the defendant posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 18 and an arraignment was set for Dec. 26. Both events are scheduled to take place at the downtown Los Angeles federal courthouse.

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Ciancia, a 23-year-old New Jersey native, has been charged with the murder of a federal officer and commission of violence at an airport. If convicted on all charges, he could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Ciancia was not asked to enter a plea during today's hearing.

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Authorities allege that Ciancia opened fire inside Terminal 3 at LAX the morning of Nov. 1, killing Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez and wounding three other people, including two TSA workers.

Hernandez, a 39-year-old father of two, became the first TSA agent killed in the line of duty.

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.

Although the case will be tried in downtown Los Angeles, today's initial hearing took place at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino County because it is one of the facilities where the Marshals Service has contracted to hold some federal prisoners.


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