Louisiana cinema shooting: Gunman kills two and injures seven before taking own life
Bystanders watch over the scene at a movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette Police Department and Louisiana State Police units block an entrance road following a shooting at The Grand Theatre in Lafayette, La., Thursday, July 23, 2015. (Paul Kieu/The Daily Advertiser via AP)
Officials stand by the scene outside the movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette
Bystanders watch over the scene at a movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (C) prepares for a news conference outside the movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana July 23, 2015. A 58-year-old gunman opened fire inside a crowded movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Thursday evening, killing two people and injuring seven others before taking his own life, police said. REUTERS/Lee Celano
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (L) leaves the movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana July 23, 2015. A 58-year-old gunman opened fire inside a crowded movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Thursday evening, killing two people and injuring seven others before taking his own life, police said.REUTERS/Lee Celano
Police stand by at the scene outside the movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana July 23, 2015. A 58-year-old gunman opened fire inside a crowded movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Thursday evening, killing two people and injuring seven others before taking his own life, police said. REUTERS/Lee Celano
FBI officials enter a building near the movie theatre where a man opened fire on film goers in Lafayette, Louisiana July 23, 2015. A 58-year-old gunman opened fire inside a crowded movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Thursday evening, killing two people and injuring seven others before taking his own life, police said. REUTERS/Lee Celano
Police tape surrounds the Grand Theatre following a deadly shooting Thursday, July 23, 2015, in Lafayette, La. (Brad Kemp/The Advocate via AP)
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A gunman opened fire at a cinema in Louisiana, killing two people and injuring seven others before fatally shooting himself.
The gunman, a 58-year-old "lone white male," fired his weapon "numerous times" before shooting himself at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette, city police chief Jim Craft said.
He said police know the gunman's identity but are not releasing it. The shooter's body was still inside the cinema and a coroner was on the scene.
Mr Craft said injuries ranged from non-life-threatening to critical.
There were about 100 people in the cinema at the time of the shooting, police said.
The gunman fired shots only at the cinema and had not waged an attack anywhere else beforehand, police believe.
The shooting happened at a screening of the film Trainwreck, The Louisiana Advertiser quoted cinema-goer Katie Domingue as saying.
"We heard a loud pop we thought was a firecracker," she told the newspaper. Ms Domingue said she saw "an older white man" standing up and shooting down into the cinema, but not in her direction.
"He wasn't saying anything. I didn't hear anybody screaming either," she said.
Ms Domingue told the newspaper she heard about six shots before she and her fiance ran to the nearest exit, leaving behind her shoes and handbag.
One of the stars of the film, actress Amy Schumer tweeted: "My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana."
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who visited the scene, called the shooting "an awful night for Louisiana".
He said: "What we can do now is we can pray."
Lafayette is about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge. Outside the cinema complex hours after the shooting, a couple of dozen police cars were still at the scene, which authorities had cordoned off with police tape.
The Louisiana shooting occurred three years after James Holmes entered a crowded cinema in suburban Denver and opened fire during the premier of a Batman film, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others.
A jury last week quickly convicted Holmes on 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges, rejecting defence arguments that he was insane and suffering delusions that drove him to the July 20, 2012, attack.