Gunman kills 2, himself in Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater

[Hand]

The Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater shooter was 59-year-old John Russel Houser, Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said Friday.

Craft described Houser as "kind of a drifter" who was from Alabama and had been in Lafayette since early July, staying at a local hotel. Authorities have found various "disguises, basically" at the hotel room where he'd been staying.

Houser fired at least 13 rounds, according to the police chief.

"It appears he was intent on shooting and escaping," Clark said of the shooter. "The quick law enforcement response pushed him back into the theater."

As to his motive, Col. Michael Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police said, "Why did he come here? Why did he do that? We don't know that."

Mayci Breaux, 21, died at the scene, and Jillian Johnson, 33, died later at a nearby hospital, according to Craft.

"He was a guy that was a drifter ... that just happened to be in this theater and took two beautiful lives," Edmonson said of Houser. "Don't lose sight of the fact that these 2 individuals had a vision, had a name, had a future. It wasn't to die as they did horribly in this theater here."

As the previews ended and the lights dimmed for the screening of the comedy "Trainwreck," a man stood up inside a Louisiana movie theater, pulled out a handgun and began firing indiscriminately.

The shooter, a 58-year-old man, killed two people and wounded nine others at the Lafayette multiplex Thursday night before he turned his gun on himself and took his own life, police said.

The shooting comes within days of the guilty verdict in the Aurora, Colorado, theater massacre.

"There's nothing to believe that there was any kind of motive," said Col. Michael Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police.

"We want to talk to the (victims') families first and let them know what happened," Edmonson said. "We owe them that respect."

The witnesses: 'Gunshots after gunshots'

About 100 people had sat down to watch the 7:10 p.m. screening of "Trainwreck" at the Grand Theater 16 in Lafayette, a city of about 120,000 people about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, when the bullets flew.

Jalen Fernell was in a theater next door.

"I almost thought it was part of the movie at first," Fernell said of the gunshots.

An alarm went off, followed by an overhead intercom message asking patrons to get out.

Jordan Broussard first thought a fire had broken out when the alarm went off, lights came on and message rang out overhead. It wasn't until he got outside, heard sirens blaring and saw a woman lying with a gunshot wound to her leg that he realized it was much more than that.

The gravity of the situation dawned on him a few minutes later, when he heard an officer say, "'Get to Theater 14, we have some men down at Theater 14, we need an ambulance.'"

"That was when we were like, wow, this is crazy," the 19-year-old Lafayette native told CNN's "New Day." "...Coming to a movie on a Thursday night, we never expected that we would see a crime scene and a gunman (in our) theater. It's a very sad night."

What comes next in the investigation?

The auditorium: 'The guy was just kind of at ease'

A man who'd gone to see "Trainwreck" told Keifer Sanders, who was in a nearby auditorium, that it was quiet before the gunfire began, right before the movie started.

"There was no argument, nothing going on at all. And a guy just stood up and started opening fire," Sanders said. "The guy was just kind of at ease, just standing there, just shooting."


"He bought a ticket and went into the theater. And sometime during the movie, he started shooting," he said.

The moviegoers included two teachers enjoying the last few days of the summer break.

When the bullets flew, one shielded the other and may have saved her life.

"Her friend literally jumped over her," said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, after speaking with the unnamed teacher. "If her friend hadn't done that, she believed the bullet would have hit her in the head."

A bullet struck her leg instead, but she managed to get to a fire alarm and pull it.

"When you think about it -- two friends together -- one jumps in the way of a bullet to save her friend's life," Jindal said from the scene of the shooting. "The other, even though she was shot in the leg, she had the presence of mind to pull the fire alarm and in the process saved other people's lives."

Full Story

[Sohei]

Rest In Peace to the victims!

I truly hate these types of incidents.

[Paslode]

This incident is truly tragic, no disrespect intended but it pales in comparison to the daily and monthly totals in the Gun Free war zone known as Chicago.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2015-chicago-murders


The reason this tragedy in Louisiana is news is because it was committed by a person who's story will help advance several agendas.

[pyreaux]

Hits home a bit, a former schoolmate of mine was one of the injured. Story seems to be she was tackling another movie goer to get them out of harms way, knowing her in high school, shes certainly thw kind that would. Fortunately only hit was to the leg some tlc at the hospital should get her fixed up. Girl she tackled got through it unscathed.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by pyreaux

Hits home a bit, a former schoolmate of mine was one of the injured. Story seems to be she was tackling another movie goer to get them out of harms way, knowing her in high school, shes certainly thw kind that would. Fortunately only hit was to the leg some tlc at the hospital should get her fixed up. Girl she tackled got through it unscathed.

From what I heard today, she may have been the one who pulled the fire alarm.

Pat