John Russell Houser has been identified as the Lafayette movie theater shooting suspect who allegedly stood up inside a Thursday night showing and opened fire. The shooting has left three people dead along with the shooter.
Police said Houser appeared to be a drifter who had addresses across the south, and that he may have planned to escape after the shooting.
“It appears he was intent on shooting and escaping,” Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said of the shooter. “The quick law enforcement response pushed him back into the theater.”
Witnesses said the shooter opened fire about 20 minutes into a 7 p.m. showing of the movie Trainwreck . Katie Domingue was inside the theater when the shooting took place and said it was a confusing moment at first.
“We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker,” she told the Advertiser .
Domingue described John Russell Houser as an “older white man” who stood up and began firing . The shooter did not make any statements or seem to give a reason for the shooting.
“He wasn’t saying anything. I didn’t hear anybody screaming either,” Domingue said.
She heard about six shots, then she and Doggett ran to the nearest exit, leaving behind her shoes and purse.
Gov. Bobby Jindal traveled to Lafayette on Thursday night, calling the shooting a senseless and seemingly random act of violence and calling on the state and the nation to come together to support the victims.
“The best thing anybody can do right now is to think about them, pray for them, shower them with your love is the most important thing we will get through this,” Jindal said. “We will get through this. We are a resilient community. This is an awful night for Lafayette. This is an awful night for Louisiana. This is an awful night for the United States.”
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, who is from Lafayette, also spoke out about the shooting.
“I’m saddened at the terrible loss of life represented in tonight’s tragic shooting at a movie theater in my hometown of Lafayette,” he said in a statement released Thursday night. “Bridget and I are praying for the families and friends of the victims at this difficult time. I will work with the Lafayette Police Department, local, state, and federal officials to get to the bottom of what happened tonight.”
Police said they identified John Russell Houser within hours of the shooting ended, but held off on releasing his name as they investigated his home and background to determine whether it was a targeted act or a possible domestic situation.
Authorities did say they believed that Lafayette movie theater shooting suspect John Russell Houser acted alone.
[Image via Twitter]