Police say a man who entered a movie theater in Antioch, Tennessee, armed with a gun, hatchet and pepper spray is dead after he exchanged fire with police, following what appears to be an attempted attack on moviegoers during a showing of Mad Max: Fury Road.
One person sustained a superficial hatchet injury and three people were pepper sprayed in the attack, according to a fire department spokesperson. It does not appear anyone other than the gunman was shot in the attack, and fire department officials say they believe all victims have been treated and released.
Active shooter situation @ Hickory 8 Theater -- suspect dead
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) August 5, 2015
The attempted shooting took place at the Carmike Hickory 8 theater in a southeastern suburb of Nashville, where a large police presence remained about an hour later. The attack comes just weeks after a gunman in Lafayette, Louisiana, killed two in a movie theater shooting, and as the gunman who killed 12 and injured 70 in a movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, is being sentenced.
Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters that police received reports of an active shooter at 1.13pm CT. At that point, police said two people had also run out of the theater and flagged down two officers working a car crash scene nearby.
One of the two officers entered the theater complex and began clearing it from the projection room down. When the gunman saw the responding officer inside the theater, he shot at the officer, who returned fire. At the same time, a sergeant was responding to reports that were called into police.
Aaron said that the gunman was believed to be wearing a surgical mask and a backpack on his chest when he attacked inside the cinema. He unleashed large amounts of what is believed to be pepper spray into the theater. The “chemical spray” was so thick that responding officers had to go back outside to get gas masks.
The father of one of the women pepper sprayed later appeared joined Aaronin speaking to reporters, he was identified only as Steve. He asked for his family’s privacy and for prayers for the shooter’s family.
“My family does not want any kind of 15 minutes of fame. We were not looking for this; we did nothing to bring this upon ourselves,” he said in an emotional press conference.
“I would ask anyone to pray for his family because he obviously has some mental problems or something else,” he said. He thanked Metropolitan Nashville police more than once, and said: “I’d also like to thank all of the citizens who gathered around us, helped my daughter, when we were pepper sprayed. That gave me a little more faith in humanity.”
Aaron said two women “were blasted with pepper spray” in the face during the attack. Swat officers then engaged the gunman, Aaron said, and the gunman was shot and killed outside the back of the theater.
The attacker’s name and the type of firearm he may have been carrying have not been released, nor have the names of any alleged victims. Police believe the attacker may be a white, 51-year-old local man, but said they are still working to confirm his identity.
An FBI spokesman said the investigation was still very active, hours after the event.
“It’s unclear as to the motives, it’s still kind of a fresh crime scene even though it’s later in the day,” said Joel Siskovic, spokesperson for the Memphis division FBI. “There’s zero indication of anything other than this individual intended to confront – at least police officers – potentially he had some interest with the patrons.”
A bomb squad was still investigating two backpacks the attacker allegedly brought with him to the movie theater, as of 2.30pm CT.