An LAX evacuation sparked by "loud noises" at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday night proved to be a false alarm, but not before sending one of the nation's largest airports into panic mode.
Numerous 911 calls were received about gunfire from several different terminals about about 8:45 p.m. local time, said NBC News. People ran Terminal 4 onto the tarmac during the chaos.
Los Angeles Airport police said reports of an active shooter in Terminal 8 were unfounded and came loud noises in one of the terminals, said the Los Angeles Daily News.
"Due to initial reports of an active shooter in Terminal 8 at LAX, passengers in several LAX terminals self-evacuated onto the tarmac and rushed through federal security screening without being properly screened," said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said.
CBS News said authorities evacuated terminals 1, 2, 3, 5, and the Tom Bradley International Terminal before passengers were allowed back inside for re-screening.
The Federal Aviation Administration instituted a ground stop for flights departing for LAX from airports west of and including Minnesota during the incident.and then later changed the ground top to only include flights departing to LAX within a one-hour flight time.
NBC News stated that about 20 flights were diverted during a 30-minute ground stop.
In the middle of the confusion, police arrested a man dressed as the character Zorro holding a plastic sword outside one of the terminals, the Daily Mail reported. The incident was caught on video.
NBC News anchor Lester Holt tweeted that he had arrived at LAX after a flight when the chaos broke.
Others took to social media during the incident.
Earlier this month a bogus report about shots fired at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport created a scare among passengers, sending some running for cover, said NBC News. Officials later said the sound possibly came from cheers from people watching the Olympic Games.
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