Scores of flights canceled at LAX after TSA agent shot

Eighty-seven flights were canceled at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday after a shooting that left a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent dead, according to reports.

The website FlightAware.com reported that 87 outgoing flights at LAX and 78 incoming planes were canceled Friday.

{mosads}The figure represented 25 percent of the total 654 cancellations that were reported by the website on Friday.

The shooting at the Los Angeles airport began when a man wielding a rifle opened fire near a security checkpoiny at LAX, according to multiple media reports.

The incident resulted in all flights to and from the Los Angeles airport, which is the sixth-busiest airport in the world, being grounded for several hours.

Officials said the shooting began at around 9:20 a.m. Pacific time in Terminal 3 of the Los Angeles airport.

Multiple reports indicated that the gunman might have been targeting TSA agents, who are routinely the subject of intense criticism for searches of passengers going in and out of airport security areas.

The shooter was allegedly wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a hand-written note that said he “wanted to kill TSA and pigs.”

—Rebecca Shabad contributed to this report.