At least three people killed in Louisiana movie theater shooting, including suspected gunman

Police say at least three people are dead, with multiple others injured after a gunman opened fire in a Lafayette, La., movie theater before taking his own life.

Lafayette police said the suspected shooter opened fire inside the Grand 16 Theater on Johnston Street at around 7:30 p.m during a screening of the film Trainwreck.

Witness Katie Dominique of Carenco, La., described the gunman as an older white man in an interview with The Daily Advertiser.

“We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker,” she said.

She saw “an older white man” standing up and shooting down, not in her direction.

“He wasn’t saying anything. I didn’t hear anybody screaming either,” Domingue said.

After opening fire in the theater, the suspected gunman turned the gun on himself and was one of the three fatalities, according to the Associated Press.

During a Thursday evening press conference with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said the killer was a 58-year-old man and did not disclose his identity. Craft said the man’s motive was still unknown.

Amy Schumer, the star and writer of Trainwreck, tweeted her condolences to all those involved.

The Louisiana shooting comes just over a month after a mass shooting in Charleston, Sc., which left nine parishioners dead in a church, where they were attending a prayer meeting.

Hours before the incident, President Obama gave a wide ranging interview with the BBC, in which he said the “biggest frustration” of his presidency is the lack of progress the U.S. has made with respect to gun laws, “even in the face of repeated mass killings.”

“If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it’s less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it’s in the tens of thousands,” Obama said in the interview.

The Advertiser reports that at least seven others were injured in the Lafayette shooting.

Daniel Rivero is a producer/reporter for Fusion who focuses on police and justice issues. He also skateboards, does a bunch of arts related things on his off time, and likes Cuban coffee.

Patrick Hogan is a reporter for Fusion based out of New York. E-mail at [email protected].