Incident Summary:

07/04/2002: Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, an Egyptian-born man, opened fired at the El Al Israeli Airlines ticket counter at the Los Angeles Airport (LAX), killing two people and wounding four others. Hadayet was killed by security personel during the attack. Early reports from police and witnesses recount that Hadayet shot the El Al ticket agent, turned his weapon on passengers in line, was then tackled and subdued by a guard who was reportedly stabbed by Hadayet, and was finally shot at by an El Al security guard. CNN reports that US authorities believed that Hadayet espoused anti-Israeli views, opposed US policies in the Middle East, and conducted the attack in the efforts of being a martyr. The victims of the attack were all reportedly Israeli.

GTD ID:
200202040010

When:
2002-07-04

Country:
United States

Region:
North America

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

California

City:
Los Angeles

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Armed Assault
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Airports and Aircraft
Name of Entity Los Angeles International Airport
Specific Description El Al Israeli Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport
Nationality of Target Israel
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property
Name of Entity Civilians
Specific Description Passengers and employees of El Al Israeli Airlines in Los Angeles
Nationality of Target Israel
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage No
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Firearms Handgun
Melee Knife or Other Sharp Object
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Anti-Israeli extremists No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 1
Number of Captured Perpetrators 1
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 3 Fatalities / 4 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 3
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 1
Total Number of Injured 4
Number of U.S. Injured 1
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
Charles Feldman, "Los Angeles airport shooting kills 3," CNN.com July 5, 2002.
"LAX Guman's apartment searched," CBSNews.com, July 5, 2002.