Obama meets family of slain TSA officer

President Obama visited Monday with the family of the TSA officer killed during the mass shooting earlier this month at Terminal 3 of Los Angeles International Airport.

Obama met at his hotel in Los Angeles with the family of officer Gerardo Hernandez. Hernandez, 39, became the first on-duty casualty in the agency’s history.

The president also met with two other TSA agents, Tony Grigsby and James Speer, who were wounded in the incident.

{mosads}The meeting with the agents was not on the president’s public schedule. Obama is in town for a trio of fundraisers, as well as an event on the economy Tuesday at the DreamWorks movie studio.

On the day of the shooting, the president expressed concern for the victims and told reporters he was monitoring the situation.

Later, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama believed Hernandez “was killed while serving his country and making Americans safer, and those who fly in and out of American airports safer.”

“His family deserves our prayers because of his sacrifice,” Carney said.

Paul Ciancia, 23, has been charged in the shooting death. Ciancia suffered gunshot wounds at the scene but has since been released and is awaiting trial.