Theater Shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana Leaves At Least 3 Dead

LAFAYETTE, La. (WCBI/CBS News) — Police said three people, including the suspected gunman, were killed in a shooting Thursday night at at a movie theater in Lafayette, La.

Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said two people were dead and there were “a number of injuries.” Brian David, a spokesman for the Louisiana State Police, told CBSN several of the injured were being transported to local hospitals.

Craft said the victims’ conditions ranged from non-life-threatening to critical. There were varying reports of the number of people who were wounded, ranging from six to ten. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette told CBS News it was treating three patients.

(KLFY)
Police in Lafayette, Louisiana, investigate reports of a shooting at a movie theater Thursday, July 23, 2015.

Police got the call around 7:30 p.m. According to Craft, the gunman entered the Grand Theater on Johnson Street, a multiplex, during a screening of “Trainwreck,” and opened fire.

“It was a typical Thursday night in our community until this happened,” Lafayette Chief Administrative Officer Dee Stanley told CBSN. Stanley said he could not confirm the number of people who were shot, but described their injuries as life-threatening.

Craft said authorities had determined the gunman’s identity but that it was not being released. Louisiana State Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were among the agencies assisting local police, according to Craft.

State Police Col. Mike Edminson said the other screening rooms at the theater had been evacuated and that investigators were processing the crime scene.

“We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker,” theatergoer Katie Domingue told the Daily Advertiser 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.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal rushed to Lafayette after posting to Twitter shortly after the shooting was reported. He said he was “horrified and shocked” by the shooting.

Congressman Charles W. Boustany, Jr., who represents Lafayette, released a statement Thursday night saying that he was “saddened” by the shooting.

“I will work with the Lafayette Police Department, local, state, and federal officials to get to the bottom of what happened tonight,” he said.