Barack Obama meets with family of slain TSA officer

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

photo President Barack Obama responds to reporter's question regarding the shooting at Los Angeles airport following his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.

LOS ANGELES - President Barack Obama has visited with the family of a Transportation Security Administration officer who was killed at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama gathered with relatives of officer Gerardo Hernandez at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday. Obama was in Los Angeles to attend Democratic Party fundraisers.

Obama also met with TSA agents Tony Grigsby and James Speer, both of whom were wounded in the shootings.

On Nov. 1, a gunman pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot the TSA officers. Hernandez died from his wounds. Authorities have said 23-year-old Paul Ciancia (see-AHN'-see-uh) had a vendetta against the federal government and was targeting TSA officers.

Hernandez had a wife, Ana, and a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.