Louisiana theater shooting: Gunman had criminal record
‘Drifter’ gunman kills two at Louisiana theatre
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-07-25 01:05 GMT
Chicago: The author of the latest mass shooting in the United States was a drifter who tried to escape after killing two women in a movie theater, then took his life as police closed in, authorities said on Friday.
The incident came just hours after President Barack Obama said an inability to enact “common sense” gun controls was one of the greatest frustrations of his time in office.
It was not yet clear how John Houser — a 59-year-old white male with a criminal record — obtained a gun. Nor was his motive immediately known. Police said Houser tried to flee after shooting 13 rounds from a single handgun into the crowded cinema in Lafayette, Louisiana. Nine people were wounded.
“What happened is that the quick law enforcement response forced him back into the theater, at which time he shot himself,” Lafayette police chief Jim Craft said.
Lack of gun control angers Barack Obama
US President Barack Obama said on Friday a “distressing” lack of progress on gun control legislation had been the greatest source of his frustration. He said he felt “most frustrated and most stymied” by was legislators’ inability to push through limitations on access to arms, despite repeated massacres during his tenure.