As the plane is about to take off, it is interrupted by the pilot on the intercom. The flight has been delayed and the pilot instructs junior Lindsay Roush and other passengers to return to the terminal.

“At that moment all we knew was that there was a security issue at [Los Angeles International Airport],” Roush said. “The pilot said he would give us more information as soon as possible.”

What Roush and her family didn’t know was that LAX was in the midst of a shooting in one of the terminals. Their plane was held at Kansas City International while the situation was being handled by police. Four hours later, their plane took off for LAX. The scene was shocking when they landed.

“I had never seen so many policemen and security people in one place at a time,” Roush said.

After the Roushs grabbed their luggage and walked out of the airport, they were surrounded by hundreds of other people waiting in line for a taxi. The airport had been shut down and no traffic was being let in.

“My dad told us to grab our luggage and start walking,” Roush said. “It was really weird because everyone was dragging their luggage along this empty LA highway.”

There were so many stranded passengers exiting the airport on foot that some people were taking action.

“We walked past an Urgent Care and there were nurses handing out water and food to everyone walking past,” Roush said.

After walking for two miles, Roush and her family were finally able to meet their dad in a Kohl’s parking lot. She said the incident was a bad coincidence.

“Out of all the flights … on all the days, it happened that day,” Roush said. “I’m fortunate that we were still in Kansas City instead of LA at the airport.”