A man suspected of carrying out a deadly attack at Los Angeles International Airport sent a suicidal text message to his sibling, police have said.
The alleged gunman shot his way past a screening checkpoint, killing a security officer and wounding three other people before being injured in a shoot-out and taken into custody, authorities said.
The suspect has been identified as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia, who police have said appeared to have a grudge against security services.
His father, who has the same name, called his local police chief around the time of the shooting to report his son had sent the text and he needed to find him, police said.
The elder Paul Ciancia, from Pennsville, New Jersey, telephoned Allen Cummings, telling him one of his children had received the message from the younger Ciancia "in reference to him taking his own life".
At the time, the 23-year-old man was carrying out his shooting using a semi-automatic rifle, authorities said.
A motive was not clear, but Ciancia was wearing military fatigues and carrying a bag containing a handwritten note that said he "wanted to kill TSA (Transport Security Administration) and pigs," according to a law enforcement official.
The official said the rant referred to how Ciancia believed his constitutional rights were being violated by TSA searches and that he was upset at former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Ciancia, who managed to enter the secure area of Terminal 3, was reportedly shot in the mouth and leg by two airport police officers.
The man who died was named as 39-year-old Gerardo I. Hernandez - the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty in the 12-year history of the agency, founded in the aftermath of 9/11.
