In distressing news, America’s clocked up another mass shooting. This one took place in a cinema screening of Trainwreck, Amy Schumer’s new rom-com in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The gunman, said to be a 58-year-old white ‘loner’ with a criminal history. He went into the cinema, sat by himself, then opened fire with a handgun. He killed three people and injured nine others (some of these are in critical condition) and then turned the gun on himself. He is still yet to be identified by police.
At some point, according to Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who’s spoken about this tragedy, a teacher jumped in front of her colleague to stop them from getting shot, and so was shot herself. Yet, she still made it to the fire alarm, which, once pulled, alerted the authorities to what was happening, and ‘saved many lives’.
Police also cordoned off an area outside the cinema so that they could detonate a suspicious package the gunman had put in his car, reports The Guardian.
As well as Bobby Jindal speaking out, the shooting was eerily timed with the release of President Obama telling the BBC what he thinks about gun laws in the US. He explained that, in all his presidency, his inability to introduce gun control to America ‘even in the face of repeated mass killings’ has been his biggest frustration.
‘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.’
Amy Schumer also tweeted her condolences for those killed and hurt:
We’ll keep you updated on this.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.