Another mass movie theater shooting may have been interrupted today as police say that they responded to shots being fired in an Carmike 8 Cinemas in Nashville, TN.
Authorities say that around 1:15 pm there were reports of a man with a gun and a hatchet inside a theater showing “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Shortly after, the gunman allegedly opened fire on an officer who then returned bullets before the gun man fled through the backdoor. By time he had reached outside there were already officers waiting for him, bullets were once again exchanged and the gun man ultimately lost his life.
According to Yahoo!, the suspect was a 51-year-old man from the area. He was spotted wearing a surgical mask and allegedly sprayed two women with pepper spray in their faces and injured one other person with a hatchet.
“The actions of that first officer who went in the theater to engage this individual may well have saved multiple individuals inside that theater,” said Public Information Officer, Don Aaron.
As far as the pepper spray , authorities say he may have sprayed it throughout the theater.
“The gunman apparently unleashed this pepper spray throughout the theater unleashed this pepper spray throughout the theater,” Aaron said. “As the SWAT team entered that theater, it was very thick with chemical spray, with irritant. Gas masks were brought in to those officers as they attempted to get this person into custody.”
Officers were able to respond so quickly because movie goers had ran to officers who were attending to a crash nearby.
There were approximately 25 people at the theater while the incident took place and the entire Cineplex was placed on lockdown. There were two suspicious backpacks that were left at the scene, one on the gunman himself, that prompted the bomb squad to make sure the perimeter was safe.
Ironically enough this shooting comes a day after Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula released an online video calling for “lone wolf” attacks as well as praising Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez for his hand in killing four Marines and injuring others at two military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn., before being killed by police.
We will keep you updated on the story as more info is released. Let’s chat below!
Sources Sited: Yahoo News
http://news.yahoo.com/shooting-reported-at-movie-theater-in-nashville–tennessee-191435924.html
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