Just a few months before the shootings at LAX on Friday, LAX administration removed armed police from their stations at TSA checkpoints, according to the Los Angeles Times. After 9/11, LAPD officers and airport police were armed and placed at checkpoints; months ago, they were moved to “roving patrols.”
According to airport police officer and president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association Marshall McClain, staffing concerns led to the change. McClain said officers would respond within one or two minutes to crises, and added that while armed officers were in Terminal 3 during the shooting incident, they were not at checkpoints.
“Our officers performed valiantly,” McClain stated, adding that the shooter carried an AR-15 in a bag through the ticketing area before pulling it out to muscle his way through security checkpoints.
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