Armed man at movie theater gets time served

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

William Gossett, a troubled young man from Georgia who roamed around a Beaver County movie theater with a gun in 2016, won’t have to go to prison.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer on Thursday sentenced him to time served — about 23 months — for possession of an illegal gun. He can’t have a gun because he’s a felon. The judge also ordered him to be on probation for three years, and he still faces unrelated charges in Georgia.

The incident at the theater made national news because it occurred a month after the mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

Gossett’s federal case had been delayed numerous times while experts evaluated his mental health.

He and his lawyer said he suffers from several psychiatric problems, including depression and anxiety.

Gossett, 22, a high school dropout from Covington, Ga., had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of a gun and ammo by a convicted felon stemming from an incident on July 23, 2016, at the Cinemark Theater in Center, Beaver County.

He walked into the theater, where the movie “The Purge” was showing, carrying a backpack and wearing full Army fatigues despite the 94-degree heat.

He wandered around the theater for two hours before someone wondered what he was up to and called police. Fears were heightened because of the Pulse nightclub shooting a month before in Orlando that left 49 dead.