Authorities investigate man who took gun to theater

Motive unknown in Beaver County case

Authorities continue to investigate why a Georgia man attempted to carry a gun and ammunition into a Beaver County movie theater on Saturday.

Although a motive remains unknown, the district attorney in Beaver County said Thursday that in similar cases there has been an intent to inflict mass violence.

“When you’ve got a guy with a gun and knives and ammunition acting suspicious, dressed like he was dressed, out on federal warrants, it was a real possibility [he wanted to shoot people],” District Attorney David Lozier said.

William Gossett, 21, was arrested and jailed Saturday on charges of carrying an unlicensed gun and receiving stolen property after he entered the Cinemark Theater in Center wearing longsleeved military fatigues and carrying a large bag.

Although armed men have shot people in movie theaters in recent years — 12 people died in a shooting in 2012 at a cinema in Aurora, Colo. — Mr. Lozier said that theory in the Beaver County case has “no evidentiary backing.”

Center police Chief Barry Kramer said police are still examining evidence to determine Mr. Gossett’s intentions.

The .25-caliber, semi-automatic pistol recovered from Mr. Gossett’s bag was reported stolen from a burglary in Columbiana County in Ohio. Police served two search warrants and have recovered Mr.

Gossett’s phone and flash drives, among other evidence. The bag also contained a bandana and a surgical mask.

Mr. Lozier said state jurisdictions prohibit the district attorney from determining whether Mr. Gossett personally stole the gun in Ohio, which is why the FBI is assisting police in the investigation.

The FBI was helping trace Mr. Gossett’s travels through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and into Pennsylvania, Mr. Lozier said.

“It’s a jurisdictional issue. I can’t go into Ohio and determine whether he stole the gun,” Mr. Lozier said, explaining the FBI’s involvement. The FBI in Pittsburgh hasn’t commented on the investigation, but U.S. Attorney David Hickton, whose office will prosecute any federal charges filed, confirmed the FBI’s involvement.

“The matter is currently under review and when we can report on our investigation, we will,” Mr. Hickton said.

Mr. Gossett’s parents told a TV station in Georgia that they lost contact with their son in June. His father, Kyle Gossett, said his son has violent tendencies and played war video games.

The younger Mr. Gossett was on 10 years’ probation in Georgia after he was arrested last year with a fake ID and another person’s credit card.

According to police, Mr. Gossett was at the Center theater to see “The Purge: Election Year,” a movie about a world in which murder is legal for a single day each year.