Lafayette rampage

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There was a rampage in Lafayette on July 23, 2015 in the city of Lafayette , Louisiana , United States . The 59-year-old criminal John Russell Houser opened fire in a movie theater, killing two women, injuring nine other people and finally shot himself.

background

Much media connected the incident to the shooter in a movie theater in the US city of Aurora , Colorado , who was fired into the movie theater during the premiere of a Batman movie on July 20, 2012 and killed twelve people almost exactly three years before the crime ( see Aurora rampage ). The shooter was found guilty of the murder the week before the Lafayette attack.

US President Barack Obama called for stricter gun laws in June 2015 after a rampage in a church in Charleston , South Carolina . America must face the sad truth that such attacks do not occur in their frequency in any other industrial country , he said in a statement.

course

The rampage occurred shortly before 7.30 p.m. local time in the multiplex cinema "The Grand 16" during a screening of the film Trainwreck . Houser came alone, bought a ticket and sat for several minutes in the penultimate row of the cinema, in which there were about 25 people. About 300 people were in the building at the time of the rampage. Houser was equipped with a semi-automatic pistol of the caliber .40 S & W and two 10-schüssigen magazines armed. He had legally acquired the gun from a pawn shop in Alabama in February 2014 . Shortly before 7.30 p.m. he got up and methodically fired at least 13 shots at the audience. At 7.30 p.m. local time, the Lafayette police received the first call: The caller said there was shooting in a cinema in town. Chaos broke out among the spectators. The first people met were two women sitting in a row in front of him, both of whom died later. Nine other people were injured.

After Houser stopped the fire, he left the cinema and the building through a side door and was on his way to his car. When he heard police sirens and saw a police car arrive, he reloaded his gun, went back to the cinema, and fired three more shots at fleeing moviegoers. He then committed suicide by being shot in the head. Two police officers were on duty in the cinema that evening and were there when the first shots were fired. By the time they entered the movie theater where the shooting was taking place, Houser was already dead.

Perpetrator

Initially, only known about the perpetrator was that it was a 59-year-old man, the authorities initially did not want to publicly disclose the identity of the perpetrator so that the investigation would not be hindered. The perpetrator was later identified as John Russell "Rusty" Houser (November 22, 1955 - July 23, 2015). John Russell "Rusty" Houser was anti-government and right-wing extremist. He is said to have admired Adolf Hitler and Timothy McVeigh

Reactions

Bobby Jindal , the governor of Louisiana, had come to Lafayette late that evening after the crime. He said: "As governor, father and husband, I can only say: whenever we hear of such acts of senseless violence, it makes us angry and sad at the same time."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gunman shoots two people and himself in US cinema . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , July 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b c d Ralph Ellis and Greg Botelho: Lafayette theater shooter bought gun legally, police say . In: CNN , July 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ Campbell Robertson, Richard Pėrez-Peña, Alan Blinder: Lafayette Shooting Adds Another Angry Face in the Gunmen's Gallery . In: New York Times , July 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Natalie Stone, Abid Rahman, Hilary Lewis and Aaron Couch: Three Dead After Shooting at 'Trainwreck' Screening in Louisiana . In: Hollywood Reporter , July 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ Alan Yuhas: Lafayette shooting victims were a bright student and an artistic entrepeneur . In: The Guardian , July 24, 2015.
  6. ↑ Ralph Ellis, Michael Pearson and Ed Payne: Lafayette shooter had history of right-wing web postings, erratic behavior . In: CNN , July 27, 2015.
  7. ^ Associated Press: Timeline of theater gunman John Russell Houser's life . In: US News , July 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ The pro-Hitler rants of Louisiana theater gunman who idolized Timothy McVeigh and called for lone wolf attacks on the 'failing filth farm' of America . In: Daily Mail . July 24, 2015. Accessed July 24, 2015.
  9. ^ Inside the Twisted Mind of John Russell Houser . In: The Daily Beast . July 24, 2015. Accessed July 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ Rolf Büllmann: Louisiana: man shoots two people in the cinema . On: Tagesschau.de , July 24, 2015.