UPDATE: Police have clarified that the suspected firearm turned out to be an “airsoft” pistol resembling a pistol.
The hatchet-wielding man shot by police after an attack on a Nashville-area movie theater on Wednesday had a propane cannister and lighter fluid on him that he may have wanted to use to set off an explosion, police said on Thursday.
The gunman, Vincente Montano, 29, a transient with a history of mental illness, refused numerous requests from police to surrender. He was fatally shot after a standoff with police at the theater that has been holding an afternoon showing of “Mad Max: Fury Road” before a small crowd.
“His motive for all this is yet to be determined,” said police spokesman Don Aaron.
Original Report:
Three people were injured when Montano doused the theater with pepper spray, including one man who also suffered a superficial hatchet wound from the assailant.
A gunman has opened fire in a movie theater in Antioch, Tennessee outside of Nashville, engaging in a firefight with police before being shot and killed.
The gunman was reportedly also armed with a hatchet. No word yet on the number of injuries or fatalities.
A man armed with a gun and a hatchet opened fire Wednesday in a movie theater outside Nashville, Tennessee, police said. The attacker was killed after exchanging fire with SWAT officers, police said.
Don Aaron, a police spokesman, said one person may have been wounded by the hatchet. He said the Fire Department was still checking on injuries.
A police officer found the gunman inside a theater where “Mad Max: Fury Road” was playing at the Carmike Hickory 8 theater in the suburb of Antioch, Aaron said.
Police said the gunman had two backpacks with him. Law enforcement officers were checking those, police said.
UPDATE: MSNBC is reporting that no fatalities or major injuries have transpired. CBS News meanwhile reports that the gunman had two backpacks with him when he entered the theater, and a bomb squad has arrived on the scene.
Watch a news report below:
