TSA mistakes insulin pump for gun, causing LAX security scare
An insulin pump mistaken for a gun at LAX led officials to delay boarding and screening Friday morning at Terminal 4 as airport authorities searched for a woman who they thought had a weapon, law enforcement sources said.
The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. as the female passenger was being screened at Los Angeles International Airport. She went through electronic screening, which detected an item shaped like a weapon, the sources said.
But before screeners could search her, she walked away toward the boarding gates. Concerned Transportation Security Administration officials immediately alerted LAX police and the LAPD of a possible security breach.
Sources familiar with the incident said security staff scrambled to determine what happened but eventually realized the "weapon" was actually a medical device.
The woman was briefly detained and questioned. Authorities delayed some passengers boarding for up to an hour, according to sources.