LAFAYETTE, Louisiana (AP) — A gunman sitting in a packed movie theater in Louisiana stood up about 20 minutes into the showing of a popular comedy and began firing into the crowd, killing two and wounding at least nine others before fatally shooting himself, authorities said.
The gunman initially tried escaping Thursday night by blending into the fleeing crowd, but turned back when he saw police heading inside from the parking lot, authorities said. Officers tailing him back into the theater in the city of Lafayette then heard a single gunshot and found him dead inside, police said.
LawOfficer Photos: Response to Lafayette Theater Shooting
They described the shooter as a 58-year-old "lone white male" with a criminal history but did not immediately disclose his name. Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said the gunman was by himself and started the rampage by shooting the two people sitting in front of him.
At least one theatergoer described the attack, saying an older man stood up about 20 minutes into the 7:10 p.m. showing of the movie "Trainwreck" and began shooting.
"We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker," Katie Domingue told The Advertiser, a local newspaper.
"He wasn't saying anything. I didn't hear anybody screaming either," said Domingue, who added that she heard about six shots before she and her fiancé ran to the nearest exit, leaving behind her shoes and purse.
Stories of heroism immediately began to emerge with presidential hopeful Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who traveled to the scene within hours of the shooting, telling reporters that a teacher who was in the theater jumped in front of a second teacher, saving her life. The second teacher then managed to pull a fire alarm to alert other moviegoers, he said.
"Her friend literally jumped over her and, by her account, actually saved her life," Jindal said.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting aboard Air Force One, while on his way to Africa for a two-nation visit, the White House said.
The shooting took place a week after the man who shot and killed 12 people at a movie theater in Colorado in 2012, was convicted and on the very day a jury said his attack was cruel enough to consider sentencing him to death.
Nine people ranging in age from their late teens to their late 60s were wounded, Craft said. At least one of those was in critical condition and being operated on at an area hospital, he said.
Craft said at a news conference that police know who the gunman is, and that he had a criminal history, but they are not immediately releasing his name. Police said there were about 100 people inside the theater at the time of the shooting.
Chief: Theater Shooting Scene is Horrific
Early Friday, about a dozen law enforcement personnel were gathered at a motel in Lafayette to investigate whether the shooter had stayed there, officials said.
Edmonson added that police believe the gunman fired shots only at the theater and had not waged an attack anywhere else beforehand.
"Trainwreck" star Amy Schumer sent a tweet: "My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana." The comedy stars Schumer as a magazine writer who decides to live a life of promiscuity after her father convinces her that monogamy isn't realistic, but in spite of her best efforts, finds herself falling in love with one of her interview subjects.
Gov. Jindal called the shooting "an awful night for Louisiana."
"What we can do now is we can pray," Jindal said. "We can hug these families. We can shower them with love, thoughts and prayers."
Landry Gbery, 26, of Lafayette, was watching a different movie at the time of the shooting when the lights came up and a voice over the intercom told everyone there was an emergency and they needed to leave.
Gbery said he never heard gunshots, and assumed the emergency was a fire until he got outside and saw a woman lying on the ground.
"I was really anxious for everybody at that point," Gbery said. "Fortunately I was lucky. I took the right exit."
The Louisiana shooting occurred three years after James Holmes entered a crowded movie theater in suburban Denver and opened fire during the premier of a Batman film, killing 12 people and wounding 70 others.
A jury last week quickly convicted Holmes on 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges, rejecting defense arguments that he was insane and suffering delusions.
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Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.
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