Authorities in Nashville say a man wielding a gun and hatchet while wearing a backpack on his chest and a surgical mask unleashed large amounts of pepper spray inside a movie theater before he was shot and killed by police.
Metro Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron says the suspect has tentatively been identified as a 51-year-old local man. His name was not released.
Aaron says an officer encountered the suspect, who attacked three people during a showing of “Mad Max.” All three had been doused by pepper spray; one of them, a man, had a cut to his shoulder after he was apparently hit by a hatchet.
The air inside the theater was thick with the chemical irritant, according to Aaron. The suspect was shot and killed when he tried to leave through the theater’s rear door.
