Police have identified the shooter who killed two people and wounded nine at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana as 59-year-old white male named John Russel Houser.
Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said today Houser was “kind of a drifter” from Alabama. Police found various disguises at the motel room where he had been staying since early July.
The two people killed by Houser were identified as Macy Breaux, 21 and Jillian Johnson, 33. One other person remains in critical condition. Houser was in the audience for the newly released comedy “Trainwreck.” Police say he pulled out a handgun and fired 13 rounds as the movie began.
“In the top left of the theater was a man shooting. He was kind of a middle-aged gentleman in a polo shirt,” witness Josh Dogget told NBC. “He wasn’t erratic or nervous … just walking down the aisle, randomly firing.”
After initially trying to escape, Houser took his own life, as a police response pushed him back into the theater. They say he was estranged from his family, but that his motive and intent are unclear.