Jeff Wasiluski was waiting to board his Philadelphia-bound flight at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday when all of a sudden there was a rush of police urging everyone to evacuate.
"It was a pretty chaotic scene," he said, as he waited to get the all-clear from authorities.
Wasiluski, who is traveling to Philly for his brother's wedding, and hundreds of other travelers were quickly ushered out of terminals at the busy airport after a gunman opened fire in LAX's Terminal 3, which houses gates for Virgin America.
A TSA official was killed and at least two others were shot, according to officials. The gunman is in custody.
"They told everyone in the terminal to get out and then we went out onto the tarmac," he said. "There were police cars everywhere, there were helicopters everywhere."
Wasiluski, who was in adjacent Terminal 1, said no one was told what was transpiring as they were moved outside. He said he found out there was a shooting after checking his Facebook feed and seeing posts from friends.
When he arrived at the airport around 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, Wasiluski said he noticed a large police presence, but still made it through security and to his gate.
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"Right when I got to the airport, I saw six or seven police cars speeding toward Terminal 3," he said. Twenty minutes later, officials evacuated everyone, he said.
After spending about a half hour outside, Wasiluski said about 1,500 travelers were pulled back into Terminal 3 and are being held there as officials re-check everyone's identification.
"That's going to be a nightmare," he said.
