FBI Identifies Los Angeles Airport Gunman

US officials this morning identified the gunman who shot dead two people at Los Angeles international airport as a 41-year-old Egyptian man who had been living in the US for a decade.

The FBI identified Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, who had been living in a southern California suburb with his wife and child, as the man who yesterday opened fire on a check-in desk of the Israeli national airline, El Al. He was shot dead by an El Al security guard soon after the shooting began.

Two people - a 46-year-old man who had been dropping a friend off at the airport and a female El Al employee in her 20s - were killed in the independence day attack. Four other people were injured, including two El Al security guards, the FBI said.

Hadayet, who also went by the last name Ali, was a legal US resident who worked as a limousine driver, FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said.

Authorities were searching a townhouse in Irvine, in Orange County southeast of Los Angeles, late yesterday. The motive remained uncertain and there was no evidence anyone else was involved, Mr McLaughlin said.

"We've never said it's not terrorism. We can't rule that out, but there's nothing to indicate terrorism at this point," he added.

The gunman walked into the terminal with a .45-calibre handgun, a 9mm handgun and a six-inch knife, but carrying no identification, said Ron Iden, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI office.

Thousands were evacuated from the international terminal, although the Federal Aviation Administration said domestic arrivals and departures continued to operate normally, and the international terminal reopened after 9pm.

The gunman's car was found in an airport parking garage during the evening, triggering an evacuation of the structure and a precautionary search by a bomb squad. Neither explosives nor anything unusual was found in the black Mercedes, said Los Angeles police sergeant John Pasquariello.

The shootout happened with security on high alert around the country for a possible terrorist attack on the fourth of July. It sent passengers ducking behind counters and hiding in airport offices. The ticket counter was about 100 yards from the nearest security checkpoint.

Israel's foreign ministry has blamed terrorists, but did not immediately offer any evidence to support the claim.