Trial of South Jersey Man Charged in LAX Shootings Set for 2016

The trial for a southern New Jersey native indicted on 11 counts, including first degree murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of a TSA officer at Los Angeles International Airport in 2013 has been tentatively scheduled for 2016, The Associated Press reports.

Paul Ciancia, 24, a Pennsville native who attended private school in Delaware and moved to southern California in 2012, faces the death penalty.

He previously pleaded not guilty to multiple counts in the Nov. 1 2013 shootings, including premeditated murder of a federal officer, two counts of attempted murder of a federal officer, four counts of violence at an international airport, one count use of a firearm to cause death, and three counts use of a firearm during a violent crime.

The judge wanted the trial to begin this year, but tentatively set a date of Feb. 23, 2016 because the possibility of the death penalty makes for a longer preparation process, according to the report.

He faces the death penalty because he intentionally targeted federal employees, and terrorized passengers and airport workers.

The trial is unlikely to be delayed any further, according to the report.

The death penalty was reinstated in 1988, and only three people have been executed since then, according to the report.

Ciancia has been accused of using a Smith & Wesson 5.56-millimeter M&P15 semiautomatic rifle in the fatal shooting of Gerardo Hernandez and the attempted murders of TSA Officers Tony Leroy Grigsby and James Maurice Speer.

Other Patch stories:

• UPDATE: Former Ocean County Man Found Murdered In Vermont
• Cops: Knife-Wielding Long Valley Man Busted; Stole Car, Roamed Neighborhood
• New Jersey Braces for Snow, Bitter Cold in Time for Tuesday Morning Commute
• Hackettstown Woman Dies In Bridgewater Crash After Driving Wrong Way