Los Angeles ? A gunman opened fire Thursday at Israel’s El Al airlines ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport, killing two people before an airline security guard shot him dead, authorities said.

The FBI said there was no immediate indication the shootings were connected to terrorism, and that the gunman acted alone. “It appears this was an isolated incident,” Mayor James Hahn said.

Travelers pray near the Bradley Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, following a shooting at the ticket counter of Israel's El Al Airlines. Authorities said a gunman opened fire Thursday at the ticket counter, killing two people before an airline security guard shot him dead.

Three other people were wounded, including an El Al security guard, authorities said. Thousands were evacuated from the international terminal, although the Federal Aviation Administration said all domestic arrivals and departures continued to operate normally.

About eight hours after the shooting, a bomb squad went to a parking garage at the international terminal to inspect a car belonging to the suspected gunman, said Los Angeles police spokesman Jason Lee. The garage was evacuated, but the search was only precautionary, officials said.

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

Israel’s foreign ministry blamed terrorists, but didn’t offer any evidence to support the claim.

The 52-year-old gunman had approached another person at the counter and opened fire shortly before noon, said Alex Baez, a police spokesman. Authorities did not release his identity or nationality, and said they had not determined a motive.

An El Al security guard fatally shot the gunman, police said.

Incident recalled

Dr. David Parkus, a trauma surgeon from Texas, said he was at the Singapore Airlines counter when he heard a rapid succession of gunshots and minutes later saw the gunman wrestling with an airlines security guard. A second guard then shot the gunman, Parkus said.

As the gunman collapsed, Parkus said he saw a long hunting knife fall to the floor.

One guard was hit on the forehead with the butt of the gun and cut on his arm; a second guard was cut on the lower back, stabbed in the left thigh, and had a superficial gunshot wound to his right thigh, Parkus said.

Parkus, director of the trauma surgery unit at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, Tex., said he helped hold the gunmen as he died, then performed CPR on two victims.

One of the victims was Yaakov Aminov, 46, relatives at his Los Angeles home confirmed. He was dropping friends off at the airport, and died of gunshot wounds, hospital officials said.

His brother-in-law, Mark Ezerzer, said Aminov has eight children and that his wife is pregnant.

“He loved people and his home was always open,” Ezerzer said. “He was a very honest and a good person.”

Aminov, a jewelry shop owner, had taken his friend, Michael Shabtay, to the airport. After being caught in the spray of gunfire, Aminov collapsed in Shabtay’s arms, Ezerzer said.

Also fatally shot was a woman in her 20s. The airline said she was an employee of a company that provides ground services to El Al at Los Angeles airport.

In addition, a 61-year-old woman was shot in the ankle, a 40-year-old man was knifed and a man in his 20s was treated for injuries from a pistol whipping, authorities said. Asked about reports of the stab wounds, FBI spokesman Rich Garcia said, “there are various weapons that we’re looking at.” El Al said one of the injured was a security officer hurt “while the attacker was being neutralized.”

A 63-year-old woman was treated for chest pains, Baez said. Initially fire officials said there were two people being treated for heart problems.

El Al had one flight scheduled out of Los Angeles on Thursday, Flight 106 to Toronto and Tel Aviv, said David Douek, a spokesman for the Israeli consulate here. It was scheduled to depart at 4:10 p.m. In Israel early today, El Al said about 10 passengers were checking in for the flight when the attack began and about 80 others already had passed through the area.

Yitzhak Amitai, deputy managing director of the airline, said there had been no warnings of such an attack. Airline officials also said there was no specific information indicating the shooting was a terrorist assault.

The governor praised the airline’s response, saying security agents acted quickly and prevented a greater loss of life.

“Like all Californians, I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn of today’s shooting,” Gov. Gray Davis said in a statement. “That it happened on the day on which we honor what America stands for liberty, security and diversity makes this particularly more tragic.”

“My heart, as well of those of all Californians, aches for the victims of this shooting and their families,” he said.

A witness, Hakin Hasidh, 43, of Dusseldorf, Germany, said he was standing in the line next to the El Al counter. After hearing two shots, he turned and saw the gunman fire at passengers in line.

“The first couple of shots, everybody just stood there, frozen like I was,” Hasidh said. “It’s really hard to tell whether he was aiming at the counter, at people behind the counter or at people in line.”

Vanessa Spinelli was dropping off her aunt for a flight when she heard the gunshots from nearby the El Al counter.

“At first I thought it was firecrackers, said Spinelli, 26, of Los Angeles. “Then everybody started screaming.”

“My mom told me this morning to be careful and don’t stay at the airport too long because there are warnings out. She was right,” Spinelli said.

Officials investigate

After the shooting, traffic was stopped on the roadway for departing passengers, but moving steadily along the road serving arrivals. Twenty outbound flights were delayed, disrupting travel plans for 6,000 passengers, Hahn said. Five hours after the shooting, most of the international terminal had reopened. Some 900,000 people had been expected to pass through the airport over the holiday weekend from Thursday through Sunday.

Fire officials deployed a team to check for hazardous materials.

Airport police detained and questioned a man who was acting suspiciously in the terminal, but he was not considered a suspect, Cmdr. David Kalish said. The man was picked up on a different level of the terminal, and was not believed connected to the shooter, he said.

“There are no other suspects,” Kalish said.

Greg Warren, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said the agency will review security procedures to see if something more needs to be done.

El Al, based in Israel, is known as one of the most security-conscious airlines in the world. Its formidable security includes armed guards at check-in, sky marshals and extensive searches of luggage. Passengers are told to arrive three hours ahead of flights to make time for the security checks.

“The terrorists deliberately chose the Fourth of July to carry out their crime on the soil of the United States,” Israeli foreign ministry spokeswoman Yaffa Ben-Ari said in a statement.

Last year, an Algerian who trained in terrorist camps financed by Osama bin Laden was convicted of plotting to blow up Los Angeles International at the height of the millennium holiday travel period. Ahmed Ressam had been arrested in Washington state on Dec. 14, 1999, while entering the country from Canada in a car with a trunk full of explosives.