3 dead in movie theater shooting, including gunman; at least 6 injured

Image 1 of 2

LAFAYETTE, La. - A gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Louisiana on Thursday night, killing at least three people and injuring at least six others before shooting himself, officials said.

The shooting took place at the Grand Theatre in the city of Lafayette, said Clay Henry, vice president of operations for Acadian Ambulance.

Henry said eight people were brought to the hospital and that two, including the gunman, were pronounced dead on arrival.

Henry said emergency workers got the call to go to the theater about 7:30 p.m. He did not immediately have any additional information.

Lafayette police say they know the identity of the gunman but are not releasing it at this point.

Police say the 58-year-old white man died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

They also said they closed other theaters in the area out of precaution.

The shooting happened about 20 minutes into a 7 p.m. showing of the movie "Train Wreck," according to the newspaper.

FOX 4 spoke via phone Thursday night to Laura Zacarias, who was at the Grand Theater during the shooting to see a movie called “Pixels.”

“The manager comes in, and all of a sudden he just says, ‘I need everyone to please exit through the exit door; we have a small emergency going on right now,’” said Zacarias. “And as soon as they opened the emergency door, everyone starts yelling, ‘Run! Run! Run!’ And we were all like looking everywhere to see what was really going on. And we turned to the right and there’s this lady standing there with a gunshot to her leg, and this other lady yelling at us, ‘Get down to the floor! Run to your cars! Save the kids!’”

The Daily Advertiser quotes another theatergoer, Katie Domingue.

"We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker," Domingue told the 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 exist, leaving behind her shoes and purse.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.