Official: 2 dead in movie theater shooting, including gunman
A Lafayette Police Department vehicle blocks an entrance at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette, La., following a shooting Thursday.
Police tape surrounds the scene following a shooting at a movie theater Thursday in Lafayette, La.
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) – A gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Louisiana Thursday night, killing at least one person and injuring at least six others before shooting himself, officials said.
The shooting took place at the Grand Theatre in the city of Lafayette, said Clay Henry, vice president of operations for Acadian Ambulance.
Henry said eight people were brought to the hospital and that two, including the gunman, were pronounced dead on arrival.
Henry said emergency workers got the call to go to the theater about 7:30 p.m. He did not immediately have any additional information.
The Daily Advertiser quoted City Marshal Brian Pope as saying that the shooter turned the gun on himself after firing at the others, and six people were injured.
The shooting happened about 20 minutes into a 7 p.m. showing of the movie “Trainwreck,” according to the newspaper, which quoted theatergoer 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 told the newspaper she heard about six shots before she and her fiance ran to the nearest exist, leaving behind her shoes and purse.