Bolivar, MO – A Missouri showing of Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2 almost turned into another Aurora, Colorado this week.
A southwest Missouri man accused of planning to kill theatergoers during the new Twilight film was charged on Friday, reports MSN . His mother contacted the police, telling them that she was worried her son had bought weapons similar to those used at the tragic Aurora shooting this summer.
The almost-shooter, 20-year-old Blaec Lammers, is charged with first-degree assault, making a terroristic threat, and armed criminal action.
“Thankfully we had a responsible family member or we might have had a different outcome,” Bolivar Police Chief Steve Hamilton told The Associated Press . Lammers reportedly has a history of mental illness and has been “off of his medication.”
Lammers mother said that her son’s recent purchase of two assault rifles and hundreds of bullets reminded her of the Aurora shooting spree at the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. She called police and told them that her son “may have intentions of shooting people at the movie.”
When he was arrested, Lammers confessed that he had purchased tickets for the Sunday showing of the Twilight film and had planned to shoot people in the theater.
According to the probable cause statement, Lammers had also planned to “just start shooting people at random” at nearby Walmart store and “just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep shooting until police arrived,” investigators wrote.
When asked about recent shootings in the news, Lammers said “he had a lot in common with the people that have been involved in those shootings.” Investigators also wrote that Lammers “was quiet, kind of a loner, had recently purchased firearms and didn’t tell anybody about it, and had homicidal thoughts.”
A friend of Lammers called him “one of the sweetest guys I had ever met” but “very emotional,” noting he would stop talking to her for long periods of time. “He was never actually happy,” she told the AP in a phone interview. “I think he had depression or something.”
We at IQ are certainly thankful that tragedy and bloodshed were avoided. It’s a thankful kind of season, and we should take serious note of the fact that the planned Twilight shooting could have gone another way.