About 20 minutes into a screening of the the movie, Trainwreck, at a Lafayette, Louisiana theater, a man unloaded at least 13 shots into the theater, killing two. The events unfolded at around 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. ET) Thursday night.
John Russell Houser, described as a drifter, joined people as he rushed out of the theater, heading toward his blue 1995 Lincoln Continental. As he heard sirens blaring outside, he went back inside and took his own life.
21-year-old Mayci Breaux of Franklin, Louisiana, was dead. Ten others were wounded, including 33-year-old Lafayette resident Jillian Johnson, who would die at a nearby hospital.
An online business profile, found by CNN, identifies Johnson as the co-owner of the Red Arrow Workshop, described as a gift, apparel, accessories and toy shop. Johnson owned the shop with her husband, Jason.
According to CNN, Houser was a drifter who’d become estranged from his family back home in Louisiana and arrived in Lafayette in early July. He was staying at a Motel 6, about 4 miles north of the Grand 16 theater, where the shootings took place.
There is evidence that the shooting wasn’t random. The hotel room had wigs, glasses and what seemingly appeared to be disguises. Houser had swapped out the license plates on his Lincoln Continental, parking it right outside an exit door to the Grand 16.
The film, Trainwreck, stars Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. Schumer tweeted afterward, “My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana.”
My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana.
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) July 24, 2015
The violence comes three years after a gunman burst into an Aurora, Colorado, showing of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises and opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring more than 70.
Some theaters stepped up security measures after that incident, but by and large, theaters across the United States are still unguarded, where ticket holders can come and go as they please, in contrast to the kind of tight security found at airports and public buildings. Ticket sales afterward did not slump.
It remains to be seen if this second shooting has any impact on the way movie theaters do business. In the meantime, it’s another senseless act of violence in a long line of so many.
