LAX returning to normal after shooting

Updated 7:17 PM ET

Operations are returning to normal at Los Angeles International Airport following Friday's shooting that killed a TSA officer and closed parts of the airport.

Airport officials say LAX's Terminal 3 is open as of early Saturday afternoon. Travelers who left their belongings behind in the shooting's aftermath are asked to work with their airline to claim possessions.

Thousands of fliers across the U.S. were delayed after the closed parts of the airport. The prolonged shutdown at the nation's third-largest airport was particularly troublesome for those hoping to head to the East Coast or across the Pacific Ocean.

About 1,550 flights with 167,000 passengers were affected, airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said in a statement Saturday.

Of those, 724 were scheduled arrivals with an estimated 67,850 passengers and 826 were departures with an estimated 99,200 passengers on board.

The situation was improving by Saturday. Daniel Baker, CEO of flight tracking site FlightAware, said in an email Saturday that there were "no notable delays" and 28 cancellations related to the LAX shooting.

After Friday's shooting, flights bound for Los Angeles that had not yet taken off were held at their gates for hours by the Federal Aviation Administration. The so-called ground stop lasted several hours. Some flights already in the air were allowed to land at LAX, while others diverted to nearby airports. Some passengers who landed at LAX after the shooting spent at least two hours sitting on planes parked in a remote corner of the airport.

The ripple effect was felt across the country.

Tasi Lua arrived at LAX after the shooting Friday, but was unable to board his flight to Denver. He found a corner in Terminal 2, plugged in his laptop and cellphone and slept on the floor.

"I'm used to traveling, and things happening. It wasn't too bad," said the 25-year-old. "I could see other people who weren't taking it as well."

Even though the airport never fully closed, travelers trying to fly out were unable to reach it because of massive road closures.

Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates the Los Angeles airport, said it will take "quite a deal of time" to get operations back to normal. She said it will be a "carefully orchestrated logistical ballet."

LAX's Terminal 3, where the shooting occurred, was closed Saturday morning as the forensics investigation continued. Only the ticket counter and parking structure were open.

On Friday, shots rang out inside the airport just before 9:30 a.m., leading to a stampede of terrified people trying to exit the airport.

The shooting began at the TSA checkpoint in Terminal 3, when police say 23-year-old Paul Ciancia pulled a semi-automatic rifle out of his bag.

"He proceeded up into the screening area, where TSA screeners are, and continued shooting and went past the screeners back into the airport itself," Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon told reporters.

"I heard gunshots, so we all went to the ground, and then a few seconds later I saw him coming up the elevator with his gun pointed, and he just kept walking in towards the terminal," witness Andrea Trujillo said.

Police say Ciancia killed one TSA officer and wounded two others. He then moved down the long Terminal 3 concourse toward the gate area. Some passengers who could not get out of the terminal packed into restroom stalls for cover.

Officers soon confronted Ciancia and exchanged fire before seizing him.

"Unfortunately, it involved an officer-involved shooting, but that's what needed to be done in that particular situation, and that was heroic," Gannon told reporters.

Meanwhile, the 100-foot pylons at the airport will be lit blue this weekend in honor of slain TSA agent Gerardo I. Hernandez. He was the first TSA official in the agency's 12-year history to be killed in the line of duty.

Neighbors described the behavioral detection officer as a doting husband and father of two.

"It's just tragic. What a terrible thing. Here's a man who is trying to serve his country, do his job well and support his family," Ken Wong, the victim's neighbor, told CBS Los Angeles. "This is a senseless thing that happened."

"He was always excited to go to work and enjoyed the interactions with the passengers at LAX," said his Hernandez's wife, Ana. "He was a joyful person, always smiling. He took pride in his duty for the American public and for the TSA mission."

Ana Hernandez made the short statement in front of the couple's house in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley. Her hands shook and her voice cracked as she read off a folded piece of paper, stopping at times.

"Gerardo was a great man who always showed his love for our family. He was always there to help anyone in need and always made people laugh with his wonderful sense of humor," she said.

The Transportation Security Administration will review its policy on officer safety in the wake of the deadly shooting. TSA Administrator John Pistole said Saturday that the agency's officers are "the first line of defense" in airport security. He said the agency would do everything possible to make sure Friday's tragedy was never repeated.

Pistole did not say if that meant arming officers. He spoke outside the home of Hernandez.

Fellow screeners and law enforcement officials wore black mourning bands in Hernandez's memory.

One security expert doubted much could be done to prevent similar incidents.

"I am not sure what can be done other than effectively banning most types of guns as in the U.K. where there are minimal shootings," said Kenneth J. Button, a public policy professor and director of the Center for Transportation, Policy, Operations and Logistics at George Mason University.

"This could just as well happened on a street in New York or at a shopping mall," Button said in an email in which he also alluded to last year's mass shootings in a Colorado movie theater and at a Connecticut elementary school. He added that "airports are possibly one of the safest places given the security there."

Los Angles is a major gateway for flights to Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Domestically, the largest cities served are San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, San Jose, California, San Diego and Phoenix.

However, it is not a major connection point such as Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Minneapolis.

Most airlines issued waivers for people traveling through Los Angeles, allowing them to change flights without paying a fee.

JetBlue diverted flights from Boston, New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to nearby Long Beach airport. Southwest Airlines diverted at least one flight - a trip from Chicago that landed in Denver.