14 DAY TRIAL // Despite the tragedies at Aurora and, most recently, Newtown, one movie theater manager thought it’d be great entertainment if he hired an actor to walk into the venue in full tactical gear and carrying a fake gun.
The publicity stunt ended with horrified patrons calling 911, and a police (and SWAT) intervention, ABC17 reports.
The incident took place at the Goodrich Capital 8 Theaters in Jefferson City last weekend, during the “Iron Man 3” premiere.
As one witness – an Army veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress – recalls, people panicked the moment they saw what they thought was a shooter into the theater.
“We had just finished watching Iron Man 3. We're just getting into the car when I spotted a man in full assault gear, carrying what appeared to be a modified M-4 and 9 mm on his side,” he says.
Calls were placed to the police, with cops and SWAT members rushing to the scene to prevent a tragedy.
Despite the panic, the theater manager tells ABC17 that he’s ok with what he did because he aims to provide “entertainment” – and that’s exactly what he gave patrons, or so he thinks.