3 Dead After Gunman Opens Fire in Louisiana Movie Theater

Three people are dead and at least nine wounded — some critically — in a shooting Thursday night in a Louisiana movie theater. Witnesses told reporters they heard at least six shots at about 7:30 p.m. Central time during a showing of the movie “Trainwreck” at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette.

The gunman, believed to be 58-year-old white man, is dead, according to City Marshal Brian Pope, who told The Daily Advertiser newspaper that the man turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

Update: Police have identified the shooter as John Russell Houser, 58, a Phenix City, Alabama native.

A woman at the movie, Katie Domingue, said “an older white man” started shooting about 20 minutes after the movie started, reports The Daily Advertiser.

“He wasn’t saying anything,” Domingue said. “I didn’t hear anybody screaming, either.”

There were about 100 people in the theater when the shooting began. The wounded were taken to three area hospitals. A witness told reporters she saw a lot of blood as she left the theater.

“A whole bunch of girls started screaming and we heard that someone was shot,” Roxy Martinez told KATC TV. “There were a lot of people running.”

Police have the gunman’s identity but are not releasing the name.

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

Gov. Bobby Jindal tweeted that he was in communication with the State Police. He is now in Lafayette and speaking with local authorities.

Authorities have dispatched officers to other area movie theaters as a precaution. Witnesses said 20 to 30 emergency vehicles responded to the theater and locked down the area.

Lafayette, is 60 miles southwest of Baton Rouge and home to about 120,00 people.

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