Between a very patriotic premiere at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and Fox News regular Ted Nugent’s post-viewing tirade against President Barack Obama and former Secretary of Defense Hillary Clinton, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is generating almost as much press as the most recent Benghazi hearings. It didn’t do so well during its opening weekend at the box office, despite being Michael Bay’s “least-propagandistic” movie yet, but that’s okay. Maybe the accidental shooting at occurred during a showing of the film in Renton, Washington, on Thursday.
According to Seattle radio station KOMO, the incident occurred during an evening screening of 13 Hours at The Landing movie theater. A 40-year-old woman was shot in the chest by a fellow moviegoer. Witnesses on the scene told the press that people didn’t react at first, thinking that something in the projection room had exploded.
“It got about 15-20 minutes into the film and I believe the lady in front of us that got shot was actually talking to her husband or significant other and that’s when we heard the loud pop,” said one witness… “It must have been a light bulb or the projector lens or something that loud, but I mean I’ve owned guns and that’s definitely a gunshot for me.”
However, it wasn’t a light bulb or a lens, but a single shot from an allegedly drunk 29-year-old’s handgun.
“Preliminary accounts indicate that an intoxicated suspect entered one of the theaters and was fumbling with a handgun he had in his possession when it went off, striking another patron seated in front of him,” Renton police said in a statement.
According to the Seattle Times, witnesses claimed the man briefly stopped over at a nearby restaurant. He was later identified because, like in the theater, he dropped his gun there while fumbling with it. He then fled the scene, but was later arrested by police when he told his father what had happened and turned himself in — after his father dialed 911.
Meanwhile, the victim was rushed to nearby Harborview Medical Center by medical personnel who arrived on scene. Local outlets reported that she was listed in serious condition on Friday morning.
(Via KOMO, Seattle Times)