Gunman opens fire in US movie theater killing two

CHICAGO: A gunman opened fire in a crowded US cinema killing two people and injuring several before turning the gun on himself Thursday, shortly after President Barack Obama deplored the nation’s weak gun controls. More than 100 people were in the theater when the man armed with a handgun began shooting indiscriminately into the audience about 30 minutes into a screening of “Trainwreck” at a cinema in Lafayette, Louisiana, police said. Nine people were injured, some critically. Police said they have identified Thursday’s shooter as a 58-year-old white male, but did not release his name. “We don’t believe there’s anybody else involved,” Louisiana State Police Col. Michael Edmonson told reporters. President Barack Obama said earlier Thursday that a “distressing” lack of progress on gun control legislation has been a great source of frustration during his time in office. “If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it’s less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it’s in the tens of thousands,” Obama said in an interview with the BBC taped before the shooting. “And for us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing,” he said. The White House said the president was briefed late Thursday while en route to Kenya about America’s latest mass shooting tragedy. “The president directed his team to keep him updated on the investigation and on the status of those injured,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement. “The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the White House, including the president and first lady, are with the community of Lafayette, Louisiana — especially the families of those who were killed.” The violence came as a jury deliberates the death penalty for the gunman in a 2012 theater massacre in Colorado that left 12 dead and 70 injured. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal rushed to Lafayette late Thursday, where he held a press conference not far from the shooting scene. Jindal met with some of the victims at a local hospital and praised their “selfless heroism.” One teacher was badly wounded after throwing herself in front of a friend to shield her from the bullets. The friend was shot in the leg, but managed to “have the presence of mind” to pull a fire alarm in an effort to warn others of the danger, he said. “Even in the worst of times, it brings out the best in people,” Jindal told reporters. -Arabnews