Israelis: LAX Gunman an Arab, Say Witnesses
Citing eyewitnesses who saw the man who sprayed gunfire into a line of passengers waiting at an El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, Israel's Consul-General in Los Angeles, Yuval Rotem, said the shooter appeared to be an Arab.
"He said that discussions he had with Israeli security personnel at the terminal after the attack corroborated media reports saying the shooter was identified as an Arab, or Middle Eastern, male," the Jerusalem Post reported early Friday, Israeli time.
But FBI spokesman Rich Garcia said investigators were still working with the Los Angeles coroner's office to establish the suspect's identity.
Asked about reports that the shooter was Arab in appearance, Garcia said in a late afternoon press conference, "Appearances don't necessarily mean the same thing. There's a lot of times when people could be passed as Arab males who turn out to be Hispanic."
"We cannot go on the visual aspect alone," Garcia added.
Two civilians were killed in the attack - a young woman in her 20s, who was employed in El Al's Los Angeles ground crew, and a man in his 40s, the paper said. The shooter was killed by El Al security seconds after he opened fire on the crowd.
Although U.S. officials have maintained throughout the afternoon that there is no evidence the shooting was a terrorist attack, Israelis suspect otherwise.
"It seems like a terrorist attack, although we don't have any confirmation for this," Rotem said. "From our experience it looks very much like a terrorist attack." |
