Gunman had long-troubled history
Lafayette, La.— Itwas about 20 minutes into the 7 p.m. showing of “Trainwreck,” when moviegoers heard a couple of pops, like a sound effect glitch. But when the sounds rang out again it became horribly clear that this was something else entirely.
“From the reflection of the movie, the light, you could see his gun shining,” said Lucas Knepper, who was seated in the same mostly empty row as the man who had begun firing at the 20 or so people in the theater. “And then you could see the flash coming from the chamber.”
Soon two young women lay fatally shot, nine other people were wounded, and with that, on Thursday night, Lafayette — which boasts of being the happiest city in the country — joined the long list of cities scarred by gun violence. The gunman, John Russell Houser, became the latest figure in a gallery of angry men with weapons who walked into a movie theater, a church, a school or a workplace and shattered the lives of people there.
Accounts from acquaintances, law enforcement officials and court records portrayed Houser, 59, of Phenix City, Ala., who also took his own life, as a man with a diffuse collection of troubles and grievances — personal, political and social— who had a particular anger for women, liberals, the government and a changing world.
Because he had been accused of both domestic violence and soliciting arson, though never successfully prosecuted, he was denied a permit to carry a concealed pistol.
His family repeatedly described him as violent and mentally ill; his mental health had been called into question going back decades, and he spent time in a hospital receiving psychiatric care. He vandalized the house he was evicted from last year, and tampered with the gas lines in a way that could have caused a fire or explosion.
Given his history, he should not have been allowed to own a gun, said Heath D. Taylor, the sheriff of Russell County, where Houser lived.
Police identified the women Houser killed as Jillian E. Johnson, 33, and Mayci Breaux, 21.
Using a .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, Houser shot one man four times, but the man survived, police said. By Friday evening, five victims remained in hospitals.
Houser legally bought the gun he used in the shooting from a pawn shop in Phenix City last year, law enforcement officials said.