Family of Lafayette gunman say he had history of violence

The family of the man who shot dead two women and wounded nine others before killing himself at a cinema in the US said he was so violent they sought police help to keep him away.

Thursday’s attack in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana, was the latest mass shootings in the US.

The gunman, John Russel Houser (59) stood up about 20 minutes into the film Trainwreck and fired first at two people sitting in front of him, then aimed his handgun at others. Police found 13 shell casings.

Then he tried to escape, but when he spotted police outside, he turned and pushed back through the fleeing crowd. Officers followed him into the cinema and heard a single shot before finding him dead.

Houser earned degrees in accounting and law before he became estranged from his family years ago, and was staying at a city motel before the attack.

He had parked his car by the cinema’s exit door, and disguises including glasses and wigs were found in a search of his motel room, police said. “It is apparent that he was intent on shooting and then escaping,” said local police chief Jim Craft.

Police were looking at online postings they believed Houser wrote to learn more about him and try to figure out his motive.

In the 1990s, he frequently appeared on a local television call-in show, advocating violence against people involved in abortions.

Critical condition

The two dead women were identified as Jillian Johnson (33), an artist and boutique owner, and Mayci Breaux (21), a student. At least one of the wounded, ranging from their late teens to their late 60s, was in a critical condition, Mr Craft said. Two were released from the hospital. Three were stable.

Houser’s family disclosed he had “a history of mental health issues, ie manic depression and/or bi-polar disorder,” according to court documents in 2008, when he made violent threats in an effort to stop his daughter’s wedding. A judge granted the family’s petition to have him involuntarily committed to a hospital as “a danger to himself and others”.

Houser refused to back down after getting out, however, so his wife, daughter and other relatives also obtained a protective order preventing him from coming near them. He was living in Alabama, by then, but came and “perpetrated various acts of family violence” at their home in Georgia, they said. – (Reuters)