John Russell Houser was a drifter who found his way to the south, reportedly working as a bar owner and political talk show host.
On Thursday night at a little after 7 p.m., police in Lafayette, Louisiana, said Houser stood up in a movie theater and opened fire with a.40-caliber handgun, shooting indiscriminately and killing three people before taking his own life.
Police said Houser had been living out of a motel room since moving to Louisiana in early July. A search of the room turned up various disguises, police said, indicating that Houser intended to carry out the shooting and then escape alive.
The shooting left two people dead — 21-year-old Mayci Breaux, who died on scene, and 33-year-old Jillian Johnson, who died in a nearby hospital. One person remained in critical condition on Friday, police said.
There were several other acts of heroism that may have prevented the tragedy from becoming even larger, said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
“Out of tonight’s tragedy we’re beginning to hear of heroism and self-sacrifice,” Jindal said, via Fox 8 Live . “A couple of teachers were at the movie together; one of the teachers literally jumped on top of the other and may have saved her life. [The teacher] took a bullet that could have hit the second teacher in the head. The second teacher was injured, was shot, she’s one of the ones being discharged tonight. Despite being injured, the second teacher was able to pull a fire alarm and helped to save other lives. When you think about it, two friends together, one jumps in front of a bullet to save her friend’s life, the other one, even though she’s shot, pulls the fire alarm, saves other people’s lives.”
Police just released Houser’s identity on Friday morning, but already a picture is emerging of a man who drifted from place to place. A LinkedIn page in John Russell Houser’s name showed work across several states and in different arenas.
While the LinkedIn page is not confirmed to be Houser’s, it has a picture matching one that police released Friday of the shooter and matches the history noted by police.
The page showed that Houser noted he attended law school at Faulkner University, then went on to become a bar owner. He owned and operated the Peachtree Pub in Columbus, Georgia, and Rusty’s Buckhead Pub in Lagrange.
John Russell Houser also worked as a talk show host, filling in on Rise and Shine , an early morning show on WLTZ in Columbus.
Houser wrote, “Guest host one day per week for more than 60 episodes. Invited political controversy on every one of them, and loved every minute of it.”
A representative at WLTZ could not confirm that Houser appeared but said the station’s newsroom was investigating.
Police have not said if Lafayette movie theater shooting suspect John Russell Houser gave any indication of a motive in the shooting.
[Image via LinkedIn]