Скачать или смотреть Louisiana theater shooting: Killer John Houser had mental illness and escape plans

Originally published on 25 July, 2015

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John R. Houser, the 59-year man who took his own life after killing two people in a shooting attack at a Louisiana theater on July 23 had a history of mental illness and an apparent escape plan.

Lafayette police say Houser parked his blue Lincoln Continental near an emergency exit at Lafayette’s Grand 16 Theater before buying a ticket to a 7 p.m. film screening. He placed the keys on a tyre and had earlier switched car’s licence plates, Reuters reports.

The report continues: “Houser bought the gun legally from a pawnshop in Alabama in 2014, police said, despite a history of mental illness and having been denied a concealed-carry permit seven years earlier because of a domestic violence complaint and a prior arson arrest.

“Police said Houser acted alone and appeared to have carefully planned his attack in advance with hopes of making a quick getaway.

“‘It is apparent that he was intent on shooting and escaping,’ said Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft, who described Houser as an unemployed ‘drifter’ from Phenix City, Alabama.

“Houser never made it back to his car. As police swarmed the Grand 16 Theater, located along a main thoroughfare in Lafayette, he reloaded his pistol, re-entered the auditorium and fired several more rounds at the crowd before killing himself, Craft said. In addition to the gun, he was carrying two 10-round magazines of bullets.

“Police said they did not know why the suspect launched the attack in Lafayette, roughly 55 miles (90 km) southwest of the state capital Baton Rouge.”

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