Another movie theater shooting ironically coming at a time when Colorado suspect James Holmes is going thru sentencing of his own mass shooting. Last night, it happened again and three people are dead inlcuding the shooter. The casualties could have been higher! OMG! Prayers
July 24 (Reuters) - A lone gunman opened fire inside a crowded movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Thursday evening, killing two people and injuring seven others before taking his own life, police said.
Gunfire erupted during a 7 p.m. CDT (0000 GMT) showing of the film "Trainwreck". The incident took place almost three years to the day after 12 people were killed at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado.
Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said two people died in the hail of bullets before the 58-year-old suspect killed himself with a handgun as officers rushed to the scene shortly after 7:30 p.m.
Seven people were wounded, three of them critically, authorities said. One person underwent surgery and "was not doing well," Craft said.
Authorities said they knew the gunman's identity but were not releasing his name during the early stage of the investigation. They offered no immediate motive and did not disclose any clues they might have found.
"The shooter is deceased. We may never know," Craft said, adding that the man appeared to have a criminal history that he described as "pretty old."
Police officials said that bomb-sniffing dogs had picked out a backpack inside the Grand 16 Theater and that they had also signaled "suspicious" items inside the suspect's car. A robot was being used to probe the vehicle further.
Investigators also headed to the gunman's home. His body remained inside the theater several hours later. None of the victims, who were described as ranging in age from teens to early 60s, were immediately identified by authorities.
Witnesses said the gunman abruptly stood up in the darkness of the theater about 20 minutes into the movie and began shooting.
"He wasn't saying anything. I didn't hear anybody screaming either," Katie Domingue, who was watching the film with her fiance, told the local Advertiser newspaper.
