Fox’s Shep Smith-Led LAX Shooting Coverage Dominates Cable News Ratings

It was the first major breaking news event since Fox News introduced its elaborate Fox News Deck. And on Friday, Fox was the #1 most-watched cable news network during extensive coverage of the shooting incident at LAX airport in Los Angeles. Between 1 and 4pm, when most of the breaking developments occurred, Fox beat CNN and MSNBC combined in total viewers and bested both networks in the 25-54 demo.

During those three afternoon hours, Fox averaged 1.549M total viewers and 292K viewers in the demo. CNN was second with 807K total viewers and 233K in the demo. And MSNBC came in third with 409K total viewers and just 86K in the demo. The numbers marked a 46% increase over Q3 2013 ratings for Fox in total viewers and a 47% increase in the demo.

The bump for Fox continued into the primetime hours Friday, where the channel posted 2.041M total viewers and 323K in the demo. CNN averaged 621K total viewers in primetime and 141K in the demo while MSNBC averaged 609K total viewers and 167K in the demo.

Fox News was also the first of the three major cable networks to break the news that the shooting had occurred, interrupting regular coverage at 12:42pm ET with the alert. CNN was next at 12:44pm ET followed by MSNBC at 12:46pm ET.

Watch the initial report below, via Fox News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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Post-9/11 airport security measures didn't prevent LAX shooting

LOS ANGELES — Despite a $1.6-billion investment in new security measures at Los Angeles International Airport since 9/11, Friday's shooting by a gunman who made his way deep into a passenger terminal demonstrates that the airport remains vulnerable to attacks that appear costly and difficult to defend against.

Lobbies, ticketing counters, baggage claim areas and sidewalks of the nine terminals at Los Angeles International Airport, the nation's third-busiest, are easily accessible to attackers intent on bringing firearms or bombs into the airport's public areas.

Creating a fail-safe security perimeter for the terminal area, however, would be extremely costly and might shift attacks by those seeking to do harm to other public gathering places, said Brian Jenkins, an authority on terrorism and aviation security at Rand Corp., the Santa Monica-based think tank.

"It would be very hard to do," Jenkins said. "There would be very little net security benefit. Terrorists could go somewhere else, like attack a shopping mall in Nairobi or a theater in Aurora, Colo., or Times Square. What do we really gain?"

In Friday morning's attack, a gunman identified by police as Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, carried an assault-style rifle through the lobby of Terminal 3 and began shooting as he passed through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

Via: McClatchy

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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/04/207351/post-911-airport-security-measures.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/04/207351/post-911-airport-security-measures.html#storylink=cpy

LAX shooter was 'calm, pacing, scanning the crowd' during rampage

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A police presence ( Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / November 1, 2013 ) Police officers make their way through Terminal 3 at LAX, where a gunman opened fire, killing a TSA agent and wounding several others.

Pico Rivera residents Luz and Jose Mendez arrived at Los Angeles International Airport around 8 a.m. Friday to catch a flight to Cancun for vacation. Before they boarded, the couple decided to stop at the Terminal 3 Starbucks for coffee.

In line, they suddenly saw a group of people running toward them and then heard a series of gunshots.

“Down! Down! Down! There’s a shooter!” someone yelled.

MORE: Eyewitness accounts of LAX shooting

In the terminal food court, Demetrius Trammel was inside the Gladstone’s 4 Fish restaurant kitchen when he saw a mob of people running frantically. Some were coming in the restaurant and others running out, he said.

Then Trammel heard a gunshot and everybody dropped to the floor at the same time.

The Mendezes, meanwhile, ran toward the nearby Burger King for shelter. But the couple got separated -- Jose was herded into the kitchen and Luz into a storage room. There wasn't enough room for everyone, Jose said, and some people had to hide under tables and chairs in the Burger King dining room. Jose said he was one of about 40 people “packed” into the kitchen “like sardines.”  

That's about when Trammel said he saw a man emerge from the crowd with what appeared to be an AR-15 rifle in a shoulder holster.

The gunman calmly walked through the lobby with the gun pointed at an angle toward the ground, Trammel recalled.

"He was looking around," Trammel said. "He was calm, pacing, scanning the crowd, like he was looking for somebody specifically."

Trammel said he made brief eye contact with the gunman, then he saw three men in helmets and face masks crouching along the wall, making their way toward the gunman.

Via: LA Times

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CBS News Releases Photo of LAX Shooting Suspect Paul Ciancia

CBS News has obtained the first picture of suspected LAX shooter Paul Ciancia. Ciancia, a Los Angeles resident who grew up in New Jersey, was taken in by the police in and currently remains in critical condition at a hospital.

This is the photo released by CBS News.

Both Ciancia’s brother and father said they received texts suggesting he was contemplating suicide. NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that Ciancia harbors “anti-government views” and he was reportedly carrying a note on him saying he “wanted to kill TSA and pigs.”

Via: Mediaite.com

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TSA employee dead, at least 6 injured in LAX shooting; gunman wounded and in custody, officials say

A gunman with an assault rifle opened fire in a crowded terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Friday, killing a TSA employee and injuring at least six before being wounded and taken into custody.

The suspect was identified by federal authorities late Friday as Paul Ciancia, 23, a Los Angeles resident, Fox News reported.

The FBI said it had not interviewed him because he was hospitalized but expected to speak to him as soon as possible.

A note was recovered from a bag he dropped at a security checkpoint. It was described to Fox News as containing threatening language directed at the TSA and anti-government rants.

The shooting incident, which sent passengers in the airport scrambling for cover, disrupted flights nationwide as planes headed for Los Angeles were temporarily grounded.

"I am deeply saddened to inform you that a TSA employee was shot and killed today on duty at Los Angeles International Airport," said TSA administrator John Pistole in a message to employees. "Other TSA employees also were injured in the shooting."

Via: Fox News

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