Jump to content

Shooting In A Movie Theater In Lafayette, Louisiana.. 2 People Killed


Recommended Posts

Posted

Authorities have learned more about Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater shooter John Russell Houser, including his blog posts and a 2008 restraining order against him in which his then-wife "was fearful of him (and) his daughter was fearful of him," Louisiana State Police Col. Michael Edmonson said Friday.

Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said authorities have developed numerous "additional leads" after releasing Houser's name earlier Friday, including his time recently in that Louisiana city and elsewhere.

But they haven't pinned down a motive yet, including why he came to Lafayette, went armed into a movie theater and opened fire.Craft said that 25 tickets, including one to Houser, were sold for the showing of "Trainwreck" where the shooting occurred. About 300 people were in the entire Grand 16 theater at the time, and investigators had interviewed 116 of them by around midday Friday.

After wounding 11 people -- two of them fatally -- inside the theater, he reloaded and fired one more round, killing himself, according to the Lafayette police chief.As moviegoers settled in for the comedy "Trainwreck," John Russell Houser stood up and unloaded at least 13 shots. Then, as people rushed from the theater, the 59-year-old man joined them and headed outside, apparently toward his blue 1995 Lincoln Continental.

Then Houser noticed the sirens from police converging on the Lafayette, Louisiana, theater. So he went back inside and took his own life with a .40-caliber handgun.By that point Thursday night, 21-year-old Mayci Breaux was dead. Ten others were wounded, including 33-year-old Jillian Johnson, who would die at a nearby hospital.

And a city, state and country were searching for answers.

"Why did he come here? Why did he do (this)?" Col. Michael Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police said Friday morning. "We don't know that."Some clues are starting to emerge. They include posts on political bulletin boards from a man who identified himself as Houser, with a matching age and longtime hometown of Phenix City, Alabama.

He has a profile created by the website Tea Party Nation. And on PoliticalForum.com, he left hundreds of messages espousing anti-government, anti-media views.Houser was denied a concealed carry permit in 2006 after an arrest involving arson, and he was treated for mental health issues in 2008 and 2009, Russell County, Alabama, Sheriff Heath Taylor told CNN. And Taylor said his office served him an eviction notice in March 2014.

"He damaged some of the property there, and I know he had done something to the gas line and the fireplace," the sheriff said.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/24/us/louisiana-theater-shooting/index.html

×
×
  • Create New...