Halton police confirm they’re investigating a screen slashing incident at an Oakville, Ont., theatre late Wednesday afternoon.
Investigators say two men made their way into a pair of cinemas at Film.Ca Cinemas on Speers Road and brazenly cut two screens while patrons watched in one auditorium.
“The two males entered the theatre and proceeded to slash two cinema screens, total value approximately $4,500,” Cst. Steve Elms told Global News.
In social media posts, staff at the cinema said the incident took less than five minutes. They documented much of it using video taken from the facility’s security cameras.
In the two-minute post, the suspects walked into the theatre wearing face masks, gloves and hoodies – one in red and another in blue.
The pair then made their way into an auditorium with one suspect dragging a sharp object across the bottom of the projection screen while another appears to be recording the incident on a mobile phone.
“We assume these clowns were doing a social media stunt as the little guy was filming everything,” the theatre said in a Facebook post.
“Well, they wanted their 15 minutes of fame, now they get it and hopefully this video will lead to arrest and humiliation.”
After a patron followed the pair out of the viewing area, the two suspects ran into an empty theatre and slashed another screen before using a street exit to make an escape.
“This is costing us for new screens plus lost shows,” Film.Ca said on Facebook.
“(It’s) the last thing we needed after having been closed and revenue-less for almost two years during COVID.”
A resident has begun a GoFundMe campaign in the hopes of recovering costs for the lost screens.
“This theatre is a staple of our Oakville Community, please help donate to assist in the damages and loss of business they now have to deal with due to this act of hate,” organizer Victoria Jones said in her campaign.
Elms says anyone with information can reach out directly to Halton police.