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Ex-TSA worker arrested after alleged threats

A former TSA employee who worked at Los Angeles International Airport was arrested Tuesday night after he allegedly made threats to terminals and left a suspicious package at the airport the same day he quit his job, the FBI announced early Wednesday as a bomb squad conducted a search in connection with the investigation.

Nna Alpha Onuoha, 29, from Inglewood, resigned from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Tuesday -- a position he has held since 2006 -- and left a package later that afternoon at the TSA's LAX Headquarters addressed to another TSA employee, according to an FBI statement. Onuoha also was involved in a high-profile case in which he allegedly shamed a teen because of her attire, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The package was treated as suspicious and inspected by a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad, but it only contained an eight-page letter detailing his disdain for the United States and other opinions about what led to his suspension and ultimate resignation.

Hours later, a man believed to be Onuoha called the TSA and told employees to "begin evacuating certain terminals at the airport" and said he would "be watching" to see if they followed his instructions, the statement read.

The terminals were cleared per his threats, but no threat to the airport was found.

Officials of the Joint Terrorism Task Force went to Onuoha's Inglewood apartment and found nothing except a note taped inside of his closet with an "unspecified threat" citing the 9/11 anniversary.

Leads on Onuoha's whereabouts led authorities to Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Riverside, where Riverside police and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Onuoha just before midnight Tuesday.

Additional suspicious packages were found inside the church and in Onuoha's car, which was parked outside of the church, Riverside Police Lt. Milby told NBC4. A bomb squad was still at the church well into Wednesday morning, prompting the church to cancel its private school classes for the day.

Aerial video showed investigators near a minivan with all doors, hood and liftgate open in an Arlington Avenue parking lot. Several explosions, possibly involving the bomb squad investigation, were reported Wednesday morning.

In light of the events at LAX "involving a disgruntled former airport worker and the 9/11 anniversary tragedy," LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys airports increased patrols by uniformed officers in and around the airports, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick M. Gannon said in a statement.

Onuoha was held in custody on suspicion of making terrorist threats -- a violation of both federal and state law -- pending additional investigation, according to the FBI.