Alleged LAX shooter due in court Wednesday on murder charge

The 23-year-old man accused of going on a deadly shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport, killing a screener and injuring three others, is scheduled to be arraigned in court Wednesday.

At the 11 a.m. hearing, a judge will ensure Paul Anthony Ciancia has been apprised of his rights, seen the criminal complaint filed against him and has an attorney, according to officials. He will not, however, be asked to enter a plea.

Ciancia, a New Jersey native living in Los Angeles, has been charged with the murder of a federal officer and commission of violence at an airport. If convicted on all charges, he could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

He is being held without bail.

Authorities allege Ciancia opened fire inside LAX the morning of Nov. 1, killing Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez and wounding three other people. Hernandez, a 39-year-old father of two, became the first TSA worker killed in the line of duty.

Ciancia allegedly targeted TSA workers in the attack and had written in a signed note that he wanted to kill TSA agents and “instill fear in their traitorous minds,” authorities said. Witnesses to the shooting said the gunman asked whether they worked for the TSA before moving on.

Ciancia was shot in the head and leg during a gun battle with airport police. He spent more than two weeks at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center before he was released into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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