- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Lafayette Police Investigate Bomb Threat After Movie Theater Shooting

© REUTERS / Lee CelanoBystanders watch over the scene at a movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana July 23, 2015
Bystanders watch over the scene at a movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana July 23, 2015 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Police in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana, where a shooter opened fire at a movie theater, killing himself and two others on Thursday, are investigating a potential bomb threat across the street from the crime scene, KATC TV reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The bomb threat was reported at Greenbriar Condos on Doucet Road, KATC said.

The building is across the street from The Grand Theatre (The Grand 16), where a white 58-year-old male, considered to be a "lone" shooter by police, opened fire at around 7:30 p.m. local time (00:30 GMT) on Thursday.

The shooting resulted in at least three deaths and multiple injuries, Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft confirmed at a press briefing, saying that the authorities know the identity of the shooter but are not releasing it at this time for security reasons.

"We do know the identity of the shooter, we are not releasing it at this time," Craft told reporters on Thursday, confirming that the shooter had killed himself and injured multiple people.

Louisiana police - Sputnik International
Gunman Opens Fire at Lafayette Theater and Commits Suicide: Two Killed
Two of the 9 people injured by the gunman have died from the wounds, according to police. The rest of the wounded, whose age ranges between teens and 60s, according to police, remain at the hospital.

"Their [victims’] conditions range from non-life threatening to critical," Craft said.

An ambulance representative told reporters that 8 people have been transported to hospitals after the shooting.

Local police and FBI have been searching for explosives at the theater, the parking lot, as well as inside the gunman’s home. However, there is no longer an active shooter situation in the area and the scene is secure, Col. Mike Edminson from the Louisiana State Police told reporters on Thursday.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal traveled to Lafayette after receiving news of the shooting and told reporters that he was "both furious and sad" over the incident.

Jindal said at a news briefing that two of the wounded in the movie theater were teachers. One of them shielded her friend from the fire while the other managed to pull a fire alarm after being shot.

The shooting took place during the 7 p. m. Thursday showing of the "Trainwreck" comedy at The Grand Theatre in Lafayette, a city with a population of about 140,000 people located about an hour drive from Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana.

According to Lafayette police, law enforcement arrived at the scene in less than 5 minutes after they received an active shooter situation report. Four officers entered the theater to confront the shooter, who stood up and opened fire in the theater about 20 minutes into the movie, according to witness reports.

The last time a movie theater shooting occurred in the United States was in July 2012, when James Holmes killed 12 people and injured multiple others in Aurora, Colorado during a screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

James Holmes was convicted on 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and explosives earlier this month.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала