Colorado Copy Cat

[redstrosekNic]

Copycat Concerns After Man Brings Weapons to Local Theater

By Dan Jovic
Story posted 2012.08.07 at 06:05 PM EDT

WESTLAKE, Ohio — News of a man carrying a cache of weapons inside a Westlake movie theater during a weekend showing of 'The Dark Knight' spread quickly on Tuesday.
"Everybody's concerned that something like that could happen here," said Lorain resident Elijah Turan.
He, along with other movie goers on Tuesday afternoon were shocked at the arrest of Scott A. Smith, 37, of North Ridgeville on Saturday evening.
Smith was arrested for gun, ammunition and weapons possession at the Regal Cinema in Crocker Park.
Westlake Police Lt. Ray Arcuri says a manager at the theater and a security guard noticed Smith's odd behavior and asked to see what was in his backpack.
According to Arcuri, Smith sat down for a 10:00 p.m. showing of the movie around 9:00 p.m., an hour early. Arcuri says Smith sat alone in the back row of the empty theater.
The security guard, an off-duty Westlake Police Officer, discovered a loaded 9mm handgun with two additional ammunition magazines and three knives. The officer then frisked Smith and discovered a fourth knife.
Less than three weeks after the Colorado movie massacre, fears are being stirred up once again hours after the arrest of Smith. The 37-year old never used the weapons during a viewing of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," but movie goers Fox 8 News spoke with Tuesday afternoon fear it could have been a repeat of what happened in Aurora.
"Guns aren't what kills and knives aren't what kills. It's the unstable people behind it," said Cathy Leigh. "And people that are doing this obviously have some deep psychological issues."
The majority of Clevelanders Fox 8 spoke with say the security threat will not prevent them from going to the movies. Though Tina Gonzales says she's not taking any chances.
"It's really scary, you know. I don't go to the movies myself but I'll admit, walking past here, I feel a little sad about that," said Gonzales. "It would detour me from going in, and from contributing to our economy here."
Arcuri says the suspect's motive is unclear.
"We've talked to him briefly but he hasn't been able to shed any light on what he was up to there at the theater," said Arcuri.
Smith's neighbors say he moved to North Ridgeville a few years ago and usually kept to himself.
"To hear this, I'm like what the heck, this is just crazy," said neighbor Pati Hobenicht.
Neighbor LindaLalonde added, "I think everybody should be able to own a gun if they choose to. He's a concerned citizen, good guy, family guy."
Monday night, police obtained a search warrant for Smith's home. Investigators say they found sniper manuals and hundreds of pictures of weapons on his phone.
"We founda lot of weapons, lot of rifles, ammunition, gas mask, survivalist type of gear in there," said Arcuri.
"Last night there was a lot of policeman over in his area. I thought that was strange," said Hobenicht.
"We feel that he's a person that shouldn't own firearms because of the medication he's on. We've learned some of the prescription meds he is on should preclude him from owning firearms," said Arcuri.
Smith's attorney, Matthew Bruce, says his client only had intentions of protecting himself and not harming others.
"He was fearful of being in a movie theater at night in light of the Colorado shooting," said Bruce. "His intention was purely of self-protection. There was no intent to harm."
For more on this story, click here.

Story posted 2012.08.07 at 06:05 PM EDT

© 2004-2012 LSN, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[red-beard]

Did he have a CHL of CCW?

[speedracing944]

3 months ago I took my 12 year old son to a 9:00 PM showing of a movie. We had the theater all to ourselves and I had a loaded 9mm handgun and a large 12" knife in the car.

It wasn't Batman though.

Speedy

[Rick Lee]

I always have a loaded handgun on me, never go to the movies and wouldn't think of using it to hurt anyone. Just saw a guy open carrying in the grocery store today. MILF with baby in her cart standing between us and OC'er was on the phone, sounded like he was being spoken sharply to by his old lady.

Who the hell brings a backpack to the movies?

[red-beard]

I just read a news report where he is charged with unlawful concealed carry. I expect he did not have a CHL.

[intakexhaust]

Another one. Known crazed was able to buy weapons.... WTF?

Cops: Man plotted attack during 'Twilight' movie

Cops: Man plotted attack during 'Twilight' movie
20-year-old Blaec Lammers was charged with three felony counts on Friday. Police say he had purchased movie tickets, two assault rifles and 400 rounds of ammunition.

AP- BOLIVAR, Mo. — A southwest Missouri man accused of plotting to shoot up a movie theater during the new "Twilight" film was charged Friday after his mother contacted police, telling them she worried her son had purchased weapons similar to those used during the fatal Colorado theater shooting.

Blaec Lammers, 20, of Bolivar, is charged with first-degree assault, making a terroristic threat and armed criminal action. He was jailed in Polk County on $500,000 bond.

"Thankfully we had a responsible family member or we might have had a different outcome," Bolivar Police Chief Steve Hamilton told The Associated Press. He said Lammers is under a doctor's care for mental illness, and court documents said he was "off of his medication."

A phone message left by The Associated Press at Lammers' home wasn't returned Friday. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

His mother contacted authorities Thursday, saying she worried that with this weekend's opening of the final film in the popular Vampire movie series, her son "may have intentions of shooting people at the movie," police wrote in the probable cause statement.

She said she thought the weapons — two assault rifles and hundreds of bullets — resembled those used by a gunman who opened fire inside a theater in Aurora, Colo., during the latest Batman movie in July. That attack killed 12 people.

Lammers was questioned Thursday afternoon and told authorities he bought tickets to a Sunday "Twilight" screening in Bolivar and planned to shoot people inside the theater. The town of roughly 10,000 people is about 130 miles southeast of Kansas City.

According to the probable cause statement, Lammers also planned to "just start shooting people at random" at a Walmart store less than a mile away. He said he'd purchased two assault rifles and 400 rounds of ammunition, and if he ran out of bullets, he would "just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep shooting until police arrived," investigators wrote.

Lammers stated he wanted to stab a Walmart employee to death and followed an employee around a Walmart store before officers got involved in 2009, according to police.

When asked about recent shootings in the news, Lammers told police "he had a lot in common with the people that have been involved in those shootings," the probable cause statement said. Investigators also wrote that Lammers said he "was quiet, kind of a loner, had recently purchased firearms and didn't tell anybody about it, and had homicidal thoughts."

Police said Lammers bought one firearm Monday and another Tuesday. He then went to the Missouri town of Aldrich to practice shooting because he "had never shot a gun before and wanted to make sure he knew how they shot and how they functioned," the probable cause statement said.

Hamilton said it appeared that Lammers obtained the firearms legally but that police were continuing to investigate "to determine how in fact he was able to obtain a permit."

Ashley Miller, who lives in a nearby town, said she has known Lammers for about a year and described him as "one of the sweetest guys I had ever met" but "very emotional," noting he would periodically stop talking to her.

She said he told her that he had bounced between relatives growing up. As an adult, he bounced between girlfriends, she said.

"He was never actually happy," she told the AP in a phone interview. "I think he had depression or something."

Polk County prosecutor Ken Ashlock said Lammers' first court appearance likely will happen Wednesday. He said his office would file a motion asking for a mental exam of Lammers. He said he wasn't aware of any charges in the 2009 Walmart incident.

Like the police chief, the prosecutor credited Lammers' mother for contacting police.

"It was a good thing they found what they found and took care of it," Ashlock said. "Everything was there as far as the weapons. He did have the weapons; he did have the ammunition ... Those things were all there, and then he made the statements to the officer about what his plans were."

[Rick Lee]

More proof that HIPAA needs to be severely reformed. I can lose all the guns I currently own if my wife so much as gets mad and tells the cops I took a swing at her (whether I did or not). Yet, this nutbag is currently under doctor's care for mental health issues and is able to pass a background check with no problem. Something ain't right here.