Descriptions of Chaos and Fear at Los Angeles Airport Shooting

As my colleagues Jennifer Medina and Timothy Williams reported, at least one terminal was evacuated, flights were grounded and several people were sent to the hospital with injuries after a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, the authorities said.

On Twitter, witnesses and travelers described the scene. One of them, Bill Reiter, a Fox Sports columnist, said on his Twitter feed that an initial burst of panic was replaced by uncertainty, with no public announcements as to what had happened about an hour after the incident started.

After the initial burst of gunfire and hiding, people started jumping over one another, jumping off chairs, pushing each other. Chaos & fear

â€" Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) 1 Nov 13

First came the gunfire. Then people including me hiding our seats. It felt very Columbine. A new kind of fear, at least for me

â€" Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) 1 Nov 13

The scene now. http://t.co/ZaT1cJtde6

â€" Bill Reiter (@foxsportsreiter) 1 Nov 13

Eric Kayne, a Houston-based photographer, posted images on his Twitter feed showing travelers being shuttled away to a secure area.

Scene from tarmac at #LAX where we’ve been evacuated from gate one after shots were fired. http://t.co/uc5jB48G9C

â€" Eric Kayne (@photokayne) 1 Nov 13

We are being moved to buses to newest annex of airport #lax http://t.co/NdXP9Ei4bD

Witnesses were quoted as saying that they heard gunfire. It was not immediately clear what had happened but the shots were heard at about 9:20 a.m. in Terminal 3.

People were crawling along the ground, abandoning their suitcases, said a man who identified himself as a traveler told the NBC News local affiliate Channel 4. It was not immediately clear what had happened, but travelers interviewed on CNN said it appeared that a gunman had managed to get through a secure area with a firearm.

â€" KTLA (@KTLA) 1 Nov 13

“@CHPsouthern: ADVISORY: Avoid #LAX at this time. Century Blvd. closed prior to airport entrance. Call your airline for info” #poltwt #lapd

â€" LAPD Communications (@911LAPD) 1 Nov 13

“@LAFD: #LAFD assisting law enforcement @ multi-patient incident @LAX_Official All media/public info will come from @LAPDHQ + @LAXPD_Alerts”

â€" LAPD Communications (@911LAPD) 1 Nov 13

#LAPD on scene of major incident at #LAX. #poltwt http://t.co/EUkN5Wtzze http://t.co/9mAguPtcll

â€" LAPD Communications (@911LAPD) 1 Nov 13

John Forstrom, another person who was at the airport, posted descriptions of people running away from the gunfire and of evacuations to other buildings in the airport.

#lax passenger just told us he saw person casually walk into terminal with rifle. Just started shooting

â€" John Forstrom (@jforstrom) 1 Nov 13

â€" John Forstrom (@jforstrom) 1 Nov 13

#lax We start running and another TSA person yells there is someone shooting. We sprint into runway. So surreal

â€" John Forstrom (@jforstrom) 1 Nov 13

#lax buses keep bringing more people to holding area at in Bradley terminal http://t.co/rlvgcuwO6K

â€" John Forstrom (@jforstrom) 1 Nov 13

Follow Christine Hauser on Twitter @christineNYT.