DASHCAM: Lafayette Theatre Shooting

July 31, 2015

Before John Houser shot 11 people at a Louisiana movie theater, he switched his car’s license plate and kept wigs in his hotel room with which he apparently intended to disguise himself.

Houser stood up in the Lafayette theater where the comedy “Trainwreck” was showing Thursday and fired off one 10-round clip, Police Chief Jim Craft said Friday.

He killed two women and injured nine other people before he turned the gun on himself.

“This was slow and methodical,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said. “This was not a single burst.”

Houser, 59, left the theater through a side door and headed toward his 1995 Lincoln, but saw a police cruiser arrive in the parking lot.

Click here for the available dispatch recordings. 

He reloaded his handgun, reentered the theater and fired three more rounds, according to authorities. Then he fatally shot himself in the head.

“Out of 20 rounds, he shot 11 people, but some people suffered multiple wounds,” Craft said. “One person was shot four times.”

Two women in the theater were killed and nine were wounded. By Saturday, three patients remained hospitalized, according to Cpl. Paul Mouton of Lafayette police.

The Hi-Point .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol Houser used was legally purchased last year from a pawn shop in Phenix City, Alabama, Craft said.

It appears Houser was cleared to buy the gun because he didn’t have any convictions for serious crimes.

This video shows Houser standing in line and purchasing his movie ticket.

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