Two scares at airports in two of the nation's largest cities in a two-week span has New York Senator Charles Schumer calling for a review of security.
False reports of a shooter sparked panic and evacuation at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday. The scare came two weeks after similar claims of gunshots triggered a similar evacuation at New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport.
Senator Schumer, while appearing in Buffalo, spoke of the incident at LAX and called for an investigation. He says how the scare was managed is unacceptable.
"People were panicked and running in every direction," Schumer said. "There was no direction as to what to do. People thought there was terrorism or a gun at the airport. Thank God neither was true."
Schumer's call for a review extends to all of the nation's homeland security divisions. He also called for a consistent protocol and communication among police and security agencies. Schumer suggested while American Airlines had security cameras at LAX, police did not have access to that video. He went on to suggest that some parts of the airport had no cameras at all.
"In a certain sense, this was a warning signal," Schumer said. "Thank God it wasn't terrorism but let's make sure that, God forbid, there is or even another false alarm, people know what to do."
In both airport scares, police found no evidence that gunshots were ever fired.
