A 58 year old white gunman opened fire on movie goers last night in a Louisiana movie theater, killing 3 people, including himself and injuring as many as 7 people, some of whom are in critical condition, a police official said.
City Marshal Brian Pope said that the gunman opened fire at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana where people were watching the comedy, ‘Trainwreck’ before turning the gun on himself.
No one knows his motive for the shooting yet. Police are still investigating.
Gov of Louisiana, Gov Bobby Jindal says the gun man shot 2 friends who are friends were together when the gunman started shooting. He said he was told one friend took the bullet for her friend and in the process stopped the shooter from killing more people.
His name hasn’t been released yet. Will update as I get more info.
Update:
At a second news conference late Thursday, authorities said they had found the gunman’s vehicle with a suspicious package inside. A bomb squad and hazmat team had been called in to assist and the area near the theater was evacuated. Colonel Mike Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police said that there are no other suspects apart from the deceased shooter.
The gunman opened fire with a handgun at the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, approximately 40 miles east of Baton Rouge. Authorities said approximately 100 people were inside the theater at the time.
The shooting happened about 20 minutes into a 7 p.m. showing of the movie “Trainwreck,” said Katie Domingue.
“We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker,” Domingue told the newspaper. 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 said she heard about six shots before she and her fiance ran to the nearest exit, leaving behind her shoes and purse.
Jalen Fernell said he was watching the film “Southpaw” with friends in an adjacent theater when he heard the first shots. Initially, he thought they were part of the movie.
“About five seconds later, sirens went off and I realized it wasn’t the movie,” said Fernell, who added that moviegoers were told to leave the area over a loudspeaker. Outside the theater, the 20-year-old said “I saw a woman lying on the ground outside with blood everywhere. She was shot in the leg.”
“We didn’t know what to do. You’re scared to walk through the parking lot. You don’t know if the guy’s in a car, hiding in the parking lot,” Fernell said. He watched as police with assault rifles entered the building and described hearing a barrage of gunshots “like a war going on.”
Fernell said he heard from a police car radio that six people were down in Theater 14. After more gunshots, he heard that the suspect was down and had committed suicide.
Police said they had closed other theaters in the area as a precaution. State and federal personnel were on hand to assist in the investigation.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal arrived at the scene approximately two hours after the shooting. At a news conference, Jindal praised the response of local law enforcement and asked for prayers on behalf of the victims.
“The best thing anybody can do right now is to think about them, pray for them, shower them with your love is the most important thing we will get through this,” Jindal said. “We will get through this. We are a resilient community. This is an awful night for Lafayette. This is an awful night for Louisiana. This is an awful night for the United States.”
Comedian Amy Schumer, the star of “Trainwreck,” tweeted her condolences.
