Did The LAPD Stand Down Minutes Before TSA Shooting?

[Prison Planet] LAPD officers assigned to the area where Paul Ciancia began his shooting spree targeting TSA agents at LAX Airport stood down minutes before the attack began, leaving for breaks without informing their dispatcher as required.

“Departmental procedures require that officers notify a dispatcher before going on break and leaving their patrol area in order to ensure supervisors are aware of their absence and, if necessary, a relief unit can be brought in to cover their area,” reports the Associated Press.

That didn’t happen in the moments before Ciancia began his rampage, with one of the officers on a bathroom break and the other outside on a vehicle traveling to a meal break.

The lack of armed officers allowed Ciancia to begin the shooting unopposed, with TSA agents fleeing the screening area without hitting the panic button or using a land line phone to call for help.

The stand down ensured a one and a half minute lag before police were even alerted about the shooting. Before officers arrived at the scene, Ciancia had fatally wounded TSA worker Gerardo Hernandez as well as shooting two more TSA agents and a traveler. Hernandez did not receive medical attention until 33 minutes after he was shot.

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