Gunman to plead guilty to TSA murder
The gunman charged with killing the first Transportation Security Administration officer to die in the line of duty has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Paul Ciancia, 26, will plead guilty to murdering a federal officer, TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez, at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 1, 2013, according to the plea agreement filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Ciancia will also plead guilty to the attempted murder of two other officers, TSA Officers Tony Grigsby and James Speer, and a variety of other charges such as using a firearm while committing a crime, according to the 30-page agreement.
Ciancia also agreed to forfeit the Smith & Wesson 5.56 mm M&P 15 semiautomatic rifle, 481 rounds of ammunition, and a Glock 19 pistol with several plastic bags of ammunition, according to the plea agreement.
The minimum sentence for the charges that Ciancia is admitting is a life in prison plus 60 years, with the possibility of a $2.75 million fine.
Hernandez's wife, Ana Machuca, said prosecutors told her about the agreement and she accepted it.
"This doesn't change anything," she told The Associated Press. "My husband's not coming back."
The incident prompted TSA to bolster training to respond to active shooters, and also sparked a debate about whether to arm TSA officers, who don't carry guns.
Law-enforcement officers patrol airports with weapons and arrest passengers for TSA. The union representing TSA officers, the American Federation of Government Employees, called for more armed officers in airports.
Ciancia left a two-page handwritten note found in his luggage — a pair of bags he lashed together and modified to carry the rifle — found at the airport. The note criticized the TSA for violating constitutional rights and setting up “nazi checkpoints.”
“If you made the conscious decision to put on a TSA costume and violate peoples’ rights this morning, I made the conscious decision to try to kill you this morning,” said the note, which is transcribed in the plea agreement. “If I take two or more pigs’ lives before you kill me, I’ll be thrilled.”
He also sent farewell text messages to a brother and sister on his way to the airport, saying his "whole life has been leading up to this point."
According to the narrative provided in the court agreement:
Ciancia had a roommate drive him to the airport the morning of the attack. He entered Terminal 3, where he removed the rifle from the luggage and shot Hernandez several times while he inspected travel documents.
Ciancia then rode an escalator up toward a TSA checkpoint, but noticed Hernandez’s body moving, so he walked back down toward the officer and shot him again. Hernandez was hit by 12 bullets.
As Ciancia was approaching the TSA checkpoint, Grigsby was working as a behavior-detection officer and Speer was a master instructor, and both were working with a passenger.
The three fled as Ciancia exchanged one large-capacity magazine for another. Ciancia shot Grigsby in the right ankle, Speer in the left shoulder and the traveler, Brian Ludmer, in the right calf, shattering his tibia and fibula. All three recovered with surgery.
Law-enforcement officers secured Ciancia about 10 minutes after he entered the airport at 9:15 a.m.