LAFAYETTE, La. — A lone gunman opened fire without discernible provocation inside a Louisiana theater after the hit film Trainwreck was 20 minutes old, killing at least two people and injuring seven, some critically, and causing widespread bedlam, NBC News reports.
Investigators are still trying to figure out a motive for the shooting that ended in the man’s suicide in the theater, located about an hour west of Baton Rouge.
NBC News:
A gunman killed two people and wounded seven others after opening fire Thursday night at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, police said.
Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said the 58-year-old white man used a handgun and later also killed himself. Dee Stanley, chief administrative officer of the city about 50 miles southwest of Baton Rouge, told MNSBC TV that some of the wounded were in “very critical” condition with life-threatening injuries.
The ages of the victims range from late teens to 60s, according to Craft.
Lafayette police said the shooting occurred at the Grand Theatre 16 on Johnston Street about 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. ET). Witnesses described hearing about six shots in a screening of the movie “Trainwreck.”
Officials said it appears the gunman entered the theater alone. “We don’t believe there’s anybody else involved,” Louisiana State Police Col. Michael Edmonson told reporters. There were approximately 100 people inside the theater when the shooting took place, Edmonson said.
Authorities have located what they believe is the gunman’s car and called in the bomb squad after “suspicious” items were seen inside, Edmonson told reporters.
Gov. Bobby Jindal praised the actions of two teachers inside the theater who performed what he called acts of heroism as gunfire erupted: A teacher jumped to protect another teacher, potentially saving her life, and the second managed to pull the fire alarm, he said.
“Both teachers ended up shot. The second one, the one whose life was saved, even though she was shot in the leg, she had the presence of mind to pull the fire alarm to help save other lives,” he said.
Click here to read the rest of the NBC News report.
Photos: Instagram
About Post Author
