Gunman Opens Fire in US Movie Theater
A gunman in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana opened fire Thursday evening in a movie theater, killing two people and wounding at least eight others before killing himself.
Officials say they know the identity of the gunman, but have only revealed that he was a 58-year-old man.
The assailant began shooting during a screening of the film Trainwreck at the Grand Theater in the town of Lafayette.
Police were deployed to other area theaters following the shooting, but there were no more attacks.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said the shooting was a seemingly random act of violence on families out for a night of entertainment.
“We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker,” theatergoer Katie Domingue told the Daily Advertiser. Domingue said she saw “an older white man” standing up and shooting down into the theater, but not in her direction.
“He wasn’t saying anything. I didn’t hear anybody screaming either,” Domingue said.
Domingue told the newspaper she heard about six shots before she and her fiance ran to the nearest exist, leaving behind her shoes and purse.
Another movie-goer told CNN that he thought the sound of the gunfire was part of the movie.
There is no word on a possible motive.
Lafayette is located about 90 kilometers southwest of the state capital, Baton Rouge.