Tenn. movie theater shooter armed with pellet gun, hatchet

NASHVILLE — A gunman who arrived at a suburban Nashville movie theater armed with a pellet gun, a hatchet and pepper spray had been arrested for criminal assault and had a history of mental health issues, police said. The assailant, Vincente David Montano, 29, died Wednesday, less than an hour after he stormed the cineplex.

Gunshots were reported at 1:13 p.m. CT, just as Mad Max: Fury Road 2D was scheduled to start at the Carmike Hickory 8 theaters at 901 Bell Road in the Antioch neighborhood, according to Metropolitan Nashville Police Department dispatchers and other records. Montano was dead by 1:54 p.m.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said in a 7:45 p.m. press conference that Montano had been arrested on an assault charge in Murfreesboro in 2004. Montano had been committed for mental health care a total of four times, in 2004 and 2007, he said. He had also been reported as a missing person Aug. 3, Aaron said.

A Murfreesboro police missing person report says that Montano's mother said Montano was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2006. The woman told police she had not heard from her son since 2013, but thought he might be near Nashville because of an address on his ID card. He is listed as homeless on the report.

The woman, who could not be reached by The Tennessean, told police her son "had a hard time taking care of himself."

Two officers working a traffic stop were able to respond immediately when witnesses ran over to alert them to the situation inside the theater, police spokesman Don Aaron said. A sergeant outside the theater encountered two women, 53 and 17, injured by pepper spray, and a 58-year-old man identified only as "Steven" sprayed with pepper spray who also suffered a superficial injury to his shoulder from a hatchet.

All three were treated at the scene. No injuries to movie patrons from gunfire were reported.

In a brief but emotional press conference, Steven thanked police for their quick response:

"I'd also like to thank all of the citizens who gathered around us, helped my daughter when we were pepper-sprayed," he said. "That kind of gives me a little more faith in humanity again."

Officers entered the theater showing Mad Max through the projection room and traded shots with the suspect, Aaron said.

"​The officer started at the projection room and started clearing down," Aaron said. "He encountered the gunman. The gunman opened fire on the South Precinct officer. That officer returned his fire, and then backed away out of the theater."

The SWAT team responded and confronted the suspect, Aaron said.

"There was gunfire, and the gunman is deceased just inside the movie theater," he said. "So we believe the imminent threat has been ended."

Extra police patrols reportedly were assigned at the Carmike Bellevue 8 theaters, less than 20 miles away along the same road.

Police examined two backpacks, one on the suspect and one left in the theater, to determine whether they were dangerous. They later decided to detonate the backpack the gunman was wearing.

Pam Wright, who said she was inside the theater during the shooting, posted on Facebook she was "shocked."

"Kids having to see the evil that exists in this world up close like this is tragic...heard a child crying saying."Is the boogie man still here.?" she wrote.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said in a statement: "I applaud the Metro Police Department for its great work to apprehend the suspect, keep our citizens and visitors safe and prevent a tragedy in Antioch today. ... I'm relieved that no one else was killed, and again, I thank the police for that."

The incident comes almost two weeks after a gunman opened fire inside a movie theater in Lafayette, La., during a screening of the film Trainwreck. In the July 23 shooting, John Russell Houser, 59, killed two people and wounded nine others before fatally shooting himself.

And Colorado jurors now are deciding whether James Holmes, who killed 12 and injured 70 others during a 2012 theater rampage in Aurora, Colo., should receive the death penalty.

Eric Vale, 32, said he was an Uber driver dropping off passengers in the Nashville theater parking lot when shots rang out. He described the scene as "utter chaos."

"I just couldn't believe this was happening again," he said.

Police flooded the Antioch area, about a dozen miles southeast of downtown Nashville, and blocked some nearby streets. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene to help with the investigation.

“It’s just one of those things that happens," said Lanny Buchanan, manager of a Sprint phone store near the theater. At one point officers came by to tell people at his store to shelter in place and not admit outsiders.

Jeremy Cardoza, who works at Ford Ice Center nearby, said his business was immediately put on lockdown with no one being allowed to enter or to leave. About 25 people, mostly children, were inside.

Raneshia Morgan and her sister, Ravyn Morgan, were sitting in their car outside a nearby McDonald's when they heard the gunfire.

"It sounded scary because it was back to back," Raneshia Morgan said. "It kept coming."

At the Islamic Center of Tennessee, about a half mile away, eight to 10 worshipers were gathered for noontime prayer when the shots rang out.

"We heard seven or eight gunshots," said Hamza Chaudary, office manager at the center.

The incident did not interrupt their prayers.

"We recognized it was gunshots, but we didn't really react in any way as it wasn't something we could control," Chaudary said. "We didn't think of it as a threat of security to ourselves."