3 dead, including gunman, in Louisiana movie theater shooting

Police tape surrounds the scene following a shooting at a movie theater, Lafayette, Louisiana, July 23, 2015. | Photo by Paul Kieu/The Daily Advertiser via AP, St. George News

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Lousiana on Thursday evening, killing two people and injuring at least seven others before shooting himself, officials said.

The gunman, a 58-year-old “lone white male,” fired his weapon “numerous times” before shooting himself at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette, city Police Chief Jim Craft told a news conference.

Craft said police know the gunman’s identity but are not releasing it. He said the shooter’s body was still inside the theater and that a coroner was on the scene. Earlier in the evening, Acadian Ambulance Vice President Clay Henry had told The Associated Press that the shooter was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

A Lafayette Police Department vehicle blocks an entrance at the Grand Theatre in Louisiana following a shooting, Lafayette, Louisiana, July 23, 2015. | Photo by Paul Kieu/The Daily Advertiser via AP, St. George News
A Lafayette Police Department vehicle blocks an entrance at the Grand Theatre in Louisiana following a shooting, Lafayette, Louisiana, July 23, 2015 | Photo by Paul Kieu/The Daily Advertiser via AP, St. George News

Craft said those who were injured had injuries ranged from non-life-threatening to critical.

There were about 100 people in the theater at the time of the shooting, Sgt. Brooks David of the Louisiana State Police told CNN.

The shooting happened about 20 minutes into a 7 p.m. showing of the movie “Trainwreck,” The Louisiana Advertiser quoted theatergoer Katie Domingue as saying.

“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 exit, leaving behind her shoes and purse.

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 injuring 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 that drove him to the July 20, 2012, attack. The trial entered a new phase this week as the same jurors decide whether Holmes should die for his crimes.

The jury decided unanimously Thursday that the Colorado attack was cruel enough to justify the death penalty. But jurors must first hear the defense’s arguments for a life term before deciding whether Holmes, 27, will be sentenced to death. The sentencing phase could last up to a month.

Holmes appeared in his first court appearance wide-eyed with shocking orange hair.

Prosecutors said Holmes planned and carried out the massacre to assuage the pain of his failures in graduate school and in romance. Defense lawyers said schizophrenia had been growing inside Holmes’ mind for years and eventually overwhelmed him, creating a delusion that he could improve his self-worth by killing others and absorbing their value.

Lafayette is about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge.

Story by the Associated Press

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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7 Comments

  • SteveSGU July 23, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    I don’t think we want St. George News reporting news from locations that have nothing to do with Southern Utah or surrounding areas. Your reporters don’t add anything to national stories, and copying them here doesn’t help us in any way. We have national news sources for that. It just gets annoying to have to scroll through twice the number of articles to find the local ones. Let’s not make this a pattern.

    • ladybugavenger July 24, 2015 at 7:59 am

      There was a time when St George news wouldn’t report news not in our area. The eic said, its a local news site ( this happened a long while ago). But what changed??? Why all these non local news stories? I agree stevesgu its getting annoying

    • anybody home July 24, 2015 at 8:29 am

      But wait – it’s a Dixie connection.

    • DB July 24, 2015 at 3:48 pm

      I have to agree with SteveSgu. I come to St George News to look at local news (and look at all the ads, of course!). Leave all the national news to the insipid cable news networks.

    • Chris July 24, 2015 at 4:03 pm

      I very much agree. What drew me to SG News was the exclusive focus on local news. National events have no place here. We all get that elsewhere on the internet and don’t need a repeat here. It only makes it more difficult to find what we really want from this site.

  • AnnieMated July 23, 2015 at 10:32 pm

    This is so sad. My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved and their families.

  • Free Parking July 24, 2015 at 4:33 am

    Yeah wooooohoooooooo the shooter is. Dead Cool.!!!!! That will save the tax payers money…. Right On.!!!!! Nothing like good news eh.?

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