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Police work outside of the Grand Theatre
after the shooting. (Getty)
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2015
Lafayette shooting
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Location
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3141 Johnston Street, Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
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Date
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July 23, 2015
7:27 p.m. (CDT) |
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Attack type
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Weapons
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Deaths
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3 (including the perpetrator)
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Non-fatal injuries
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9
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Perpetrator
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John Russell Houser
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Motive
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Under investigation
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On
July 23, 2015, a shooting occurred at the Grand 16 movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana. John Russell Houser, age
59, opened fire during a showing of the film Trainwreck, killing two people and injuring
nine others before committing suicide.
Shooting
The
shooting occurred in theater 14 during the 7:10 p.m. screening of Trainwreck, held at the Grand 16 movie
theater in Lafayette, just 60 miles (97 km) west of Baton
Rouge. Houser, 59, went to the theater alone, bought a ticket ten minutes
late into the movie, and sat for several minutes in the theater's
second-to-last row. Including Houser, there were 25 people in the theater and
300 people in the building. Houser was armed with a Hi-Point
.40-caliber
handgun and
equipped with two 10-round magazines. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., he
stood up, pulled out the handgun from his pants, and started shooting
indiscriminately while walking down the steps. Houser fired at least 13 rounds
and reloaded once. He killed two people and injured nine others.
The
first two people he shot were sitting right in front of him. The shooting was
contained to one theater. After the shooting ended, Houser exited the theater
through a side door and apparently tried to head for his vehicle while blending
in with survivors. However, upon noticing police sirens, he retreated back
inside the building and fired three more shots at fleeing moviegoers. Then, he
committed suicide.
Prior
to the shooting, two police officers were already on duty at the 16-screen multiplex. Four other officers responded
to the scene in less than a minute after receiving a 7:28 p.m. report of
the shooting. After witnessing audiences fleeing and hearing gunshots, they
made their way into the auditorium. Upon entering the theater, two-and-a-half
minutes after arrival, they found Houser dead; he had fired a bullet into his
mouth. His body remained inside the theater for several hours. After the
shooting, it was discovered that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.1, while the
legal limit is 0.08.
Aftermath
Following
the shooting, the other local Grand Theatre was also closed, while the entire
area was locked down as law enforcement officials searched for additional
shooters. The Louisiana State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Lafayette
Parish Sheriff, and Lafayette Police Department police participated in the
investigation. Police believe the shooter acted alone, but have not confirmed a
motive.
Upon
investigation, officials found that Houser had been staying in a nearby motel,
a Motel 6,
and discovered wigs, glasses, and disguises. This led officials to believe that
he intended on escaping before being cornered by police, leading to his
suicide. Furthermore, he illegally switched his license plates near an exit
door to the theater, and in his motel room.
On
late Thursday night, the police investigated Houser's car, a blue 1995 Lincoln Continental, and found two suspicious
objects with wires inside. Fearing that the items might be an explosive, the
police halted the investigation. On the morning of July 24, they called the
bomb squad, who blew up its windows and trunk. Similarly, investigators found
three objects in the theater that they feared could be explosives and had them
examined with a robot. An apartment complex behind the theater was evacuated as
a precaution. The objects in the theater and in the car all turned out not to
be dangerous. A search of the car later turned up more disguises.
Investigators
recovered a 39-page journal belonging to Houser, which contained the name of
the theater and the time and date of the screening of Trainwreck, along with random notes and
observations. However, the journal did not provide a clear motive behind the
shooting. Investigators were also studying posts he made online to determine a
motive for the shooting. They finished processing the crime scene at the
theater on July 27.
Questions
were raised about how Houser was able to obtain the gun used in the shooting.
It was initially reported that he had been involuntarily committed for mental
health treatment in 2008, which would have legally prohibited him from
purchasing firearms. However, it was later determined that he was able to
purchase the gun because a judge never committed him and instead had him
undergo a mental health evaluation. Once the evaluation was done, medical
authorities either had to release him, convince him to commit himself
voluntarily for treatment, or petition a court to force him to undergo
treatment. They never petitioned the court, but it was unclear if Houser was
released or voluntarily committed. His 2008 evaluation was never officially
reported to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The
Grand 16 theater was shut down after the shooting. It reopened four months
later on November 19, after a ceremony honoring the victims.
On
January 13, 2016, police released a 589-page report of the shooting and photos
of Houser's motel room.
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John Russell Houser was identified as the
gunman who attacked movie theater-goers in Louisiana, killing two people and
injuring nine others before committing suicide. (LinkedIn)
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Perpetrator
John Russell "Rusty" Houser (November 22, 1955 – July 23,
2015) had a history of anti-government and far-right views, including those on race, gender, and the future of the
U.S.
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Mayci Breaux, left, and Jillian Johnson
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Victims
Two
women were killed by Houser in the shooting. One died at the scene, while the
other died at a nearby hospital. They are:
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Mayci Marie Breaux
September 25, 1993 - July 23, 2015
Lafayette, Louisiana
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Mayci Breaux, age 21, of Franklin, Louisiana, who died at the theater.
She was a student at Louisiana State University Eunice
and worked at the Coco Eros boutique. She died from a single gunshot wound. She
was accompanied at the theater by her boyfriend, Matthew Rodriguez, who was
injured in the neck and in the armpit.
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Jillian Johnson
(March 4, 1982 to July 23, 2015)
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Jillian Johnson, age 33, of Lafayette, who died
at the hospital. She operated a gift and toy shop in Lafayette and played ukulele and
guitar for a band called The Figs. She died from two gunshot wounds. She was
accompanied at the theater by her friend Julia Egedahl, who was injured in the
torso and suffered serious fractures.
The
injuries of the survivors ranged from light to critical and were inflicted
either from gunshots and/or during accidents while fleeing. The victims' ages
ranged from the late teens to their 60s. Among the injuries were two women who
were friends and employees at a local high school. One of them, a librarian,
jumped on top of the second woman, a schoolteacher, to save her life and was
shot through the leg. Both women were ultimately shot, but the woman who was
jumped on was able to stand up and pull the fire
alarm. Also injured were the cousin of Louisiana Representative Charles
Boustany and her husband. Egedahl, the last victim discharged, left Our Lady of Lourdes
Regional Medical Center on August 14. One victim was shot four times.
Responses
to the shooting
Political
response
- Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal traveled to the scene of the shooting and said he was praying for the victims. He praised the actions of law enforcement during the shooting.
- U.S. Senators David Vitter and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana both released statements expressing their sorrow for the victims of the shooting, and that they were praying for them.
- Authorities in Louisiana and Alabama criticized the lack of funding for mental health services in the U.S., following the emergence of Houser's mental problems.
- Louisiana State Representative Barbara Norton stated that she is planning on drafting a bill to the criminal justice committee she serves on, which would require all movie theaters in Louisiana to have a metal detector.
Theater and film response
Amy
Schumer, who wrote and starred in the film being shown as the shooting
occurred, posted on her Twitter account, "My heart is broken and all my thoughts
and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana." She later joined U.S. Senator Chuck
Schumer of New York, a cousin of her father's, in calling for stricter gun
control and increased mental health funding. Schumer expanded on the
shooting and her views on gun control in her best-selling book "The Girl
With The Lower-Back Tattoo", where she talked about the two murder victims
at length; she referred to the gunman's vile personal views and sickness and
did not write his name.
Universal
Studios, the film's distributor, also released a statement, saying,
"All of us at Universal Pictures send our heartfelt sympathies to the
victims of this senseless tragedy and their families in Louisiana."
The
theater and its parent company, the Southern
Theatres, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Security
was increased at the other Grand movie theater in Kenner,
Louisiana, and at the Esplanade Mall in Kenner. They later issued a
statement, in which they said, "All of us offer our thoughts and prayers
to the victims and the community of Lafayette. We are grateful to all local
officials and to the governor for their efforts."
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Lafayette_shooting
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