On July 23, 2015, 59-year-old John Russell Houser went into a showing of “Trainwreck” at the Grand 16 Theatre In Lafayette, Louisiana. With him, he carried a .40 calibur handgun and opened fire on the audience.
Houser was not a Louisiana native. He was from Alabama and recently moved to Lafayette at the beginning of July. As of now the police do not know what motive Houser had but Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft did describe him as “kind of a drifter.”
Houser attended the movie alone and about 20 minutes into the showing he stood up and began to fire at the crowd. Police say he fired at least 13 times. He also had his car parked right outside the theatre’s exit door and initially tried to blend in and escape after the shooting, but once he saw police enforcements he went back inside the theatre and took his own life with a single shot.
This incident has occurred only four days after the three year anniversary of the Colorado theater massacre, and only seven days after James Holmes was found guilty for the murder of 12 innocents.
Along with Houser, two people are dead, and multiple people were injured. The two who lost their lives are 21-year-old Mayci Breaux of Franklin and 33-year-old Jillian Johnson of Lafayette. Breaux was attending LSU-Eunice and worked in a women’s clothing store in Lafayette while Johnson was the owner of a Lafayette boutique and apparel store and was the lead singer of an all-female band based in Lafayette called ‘The Figs’.
Mayci Breaux (left) and Jillian Johnson (right)
I cannot begin to express the sorrow I have for the families of those involved. This is the kind of thing that happens in the movies. You never expect it to happen in real life, especially not in your own backyard. This is a senseless act of violence.
Growing up in the small town of Kinder, La, it's a very common thing for us to go to a bigger city, like Lafayette, to see a movie with a group of friends or family. Myself, a friend, or family member could have easily been sitting in that theatre. It’s scary to think that a place parents believe to be safe for their children is now a scene for murder. In what world is this okay?
I now attend McNeese State University in Lake Charles, which is about an hour from Lafayette, and it’s terrifying to see an incident like this happen so close to home. This could have easily taken place at our Cinemark.
With all the recent events going on in our country this is really an eye opener. Lately, the news in our country has been cause of arguments and debates, and the discord among people was slowly turning everyone in our country against each other. This, however, is bringing everyone together.
At the end of the day what we all need to realize is as a country, we are all one. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what flag you hold, or if you support gay marriage. Nobody is asking these questions about the victims because they know it doesn’t matter. What matters is two, young, innocent women lost their lives on this day, and their families need a strong nation that is banding together to help get them through this.
Governor Bobby Jindal was fast to react to this crisis and said “What we can do now is pray. We can hug these families. We can just shower them in love."
I admire this statement because it is true. Love is a very powerful thing, and being from the south we all know how far a little kindness can go. These families aren’t going to get through this if the citizens of our nation are in a war with one another. We can't keep calling into question the race of the shooter, the mentality of this horrific act, or anything else that doesn't matter. What matters are the people who passed, the lives of their family, and the lives of all those that survived.
There have been stories of heroic acts during this event. One in particular is of a teacher who jumped over her friend to save her and took a bullet. After being shot, she also managed to pull a fire alarm. Thanks to people like her, I still have faith in the humanity of our world.
Life is taken for granted so much nowadays. It is way too short to waste fighting about little things. Let this be an eye opener to everyone as much as it was to me. Hug your family and friends extra tight today, and be thankful that you still have the opportunity to do this. Also continue to pray for the families and friends involved, pray for Lafayette, pray for Louisiana, and pray for our country.
