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TSA Agent Who Died In LAX Shooting Was A 'Great Guy,' Family Man
The TSA agent who was killed in the LAX shooting yesterday has been identified by the agency as Gerardo I. Hernandez of Porter Ranch.
The TSA provided no additional details about Hernandez, but NBC4 interviewed a former co-worker who claimed that the 39-year-old Hernandez was a proud family man who had been working at the airport for five years.
"It’s devastating because he was such a great guy. All he talked about was his family," Kevin Maxwell, who worked with Hernandez in the logistics department at the TSA, told NBC4. "He was very proud of his son, who played football."
Hernandez was gunned down by Paul Anthony Ciancia, a 23-year-old man from Sun Valley who entered Terminal 3 armed with a rifle and began shooting. Based on witness testimonies and evidence, it appears that Ciancia was specifically targeting TSA employees.
"No words can explain the horror that we experienced today when a shooter took the life of a member of our family and injured two TSA officers at Los Angeles International Airport," TSA administrator John S. Pistole said in a statement.
The other two TSA agents who were wounded in the attack have not been publicly identified. Hernandez has been confirmed as the first TSA agent to die in the line of duty.
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