WATCH: Russell County Alabama Sheriff Heath Taylor held a news conference regarding shooting suspect John Russell Houser’s time in the county. Houser previously lived in Alabama and police say he was a drifter.
LAFAYETTE, La. – The man who killed two people and wounded nine others at a movie theatre was so mentally ill and violent that years ago, his wife hid his guns and his family had him hospitalized against his will before obtaining a court order to keep him away.
John Russell Houser, 59, stood up about 20 minutes into the “Trainwreck” movie and fired first at two people sitting in front of him, then aimed his handgun at others. Police said Friday they found 13 shell casings.
READ MORE: Who is John Russell Houser, the man behind the Lafayette theatre shooting
Police were looking at online postings they believed Houser wrote to learn more about him and try to figure out his motive, superintendent Col. Michael D. Edmonson said.
In the 1990s, he frequently appeared on a local television call-in show, advocating violence against people involved in abortions, said Calvin Floyd, who hosted the morning show on WLTZ-TV in Columbus, Georgia.
Houser also espoused other radical views, including his opposition to women in the workplace. Floyd described Houser as an “angry man” who made “wild accusations” about all sorts of topics, and said he put him on to counter a Democratic voice because “he could make the phones ring.”
The two fatalities were identified as 33-year-old Jillian Johnson and 21-year-old Mayci Breaux. At least one of the wounded, ranging from their late teens to their late 60s, was in critical condition, Craft said. Two were released from the hospital.
READ MORE: ‘They had a face, they had a name’: The two victims of the Lafayette shooting remembered
Houser “has a history of mental health issues, i.e., manic depression and/or bi-polar disorder,” his family said in 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 after accusing him of having “perpetrated various acts of family violence.”
His daughter, Kirbey Ellen Houser, was engaged to Andrew Michael Broome at the time, and though they were 23 and 26, he felt they were too young to be married. “He has exhibited extreme erratic behaviour and has made ominous as well as disturbing statements” that their marriage would not occur, the filing says.
WATCH: Lafayette police identify theater shooter as John Russell Houser
Police weren’t sure why Houser ended up in Louisiana years after becoming estranged from family living in Alabama and Georgia. Police said his mother had recently loaned him some money because he said he was trying to get his life together.
“It just seems like he was kind of drifting along,” Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said. He had an uncle that once lived in Lafayette, but he died 35 years ago. “We don’t know why he decided to stop and stay in Lafayette.”
About a dozen law enforcement personnel descended on the Motel 6 in Lafayette where Houser had been staying. An officer carried out a cardboard box from the room and other officers could be seen knocking on neighbouring doors.
State police superintendent Col. Michael D. Edmonson said police believe the gunman did not wage any other attacks Thursday night before opening fire in the theatre.
READ MORE: Celebrities react to Lafayette movie theatre shootings
“Trainwreck” star Amy Schumer tweeted: “My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana.” The comedy stars Schumer as a magazine writer who decides to live a life of promiscuity after her father convinces her that monogamy isn’t realistic, but in spite of her best efforts, finds herself falling in love with one of her interview subjects.
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