On a warm Thursday evening in Lafayette, Louisiana, 21-year-old Mayci Marie Breaux went to the Grand 16 movie theater to watch the comedy 'Trainwreck'. It was July 23, 2015, and what began as a typical night out tragically became the final moments of her life. About twenty minutes into the film, a man who had been sitting alone stood up and began firing a handgun into the audience. Breaux was one of the first people shot and died at the scene from a single gunshot wound.
Another moviegoer, Jillian Johnson, was also killed, and nine other people were injured in the chaotic moments that followed.
The gunman was quickly identified as John Russell Houser, a 59-year-old man described by police as a drifter from Alabama who had been staying in a local motel. The investigation into Houser's background revealed a deeply troubled individual with a history of erratic behavior, mental health issues, and a collection of extremist and hateful ideologies. He held anti-government, anti-feminist, racist, and pro-Nazi views, which he expressed in online forums and a personal journal. Investigators found his journal, which included the date and time of the movie screening, but a clear motive for targeting this specific showing and these particular victims was never definitively established. It is believed by some investigators that he may have chosen the film due to its feminist themes.
In the aftermath, police discovered that Houser was well-prepared for the attack and had intended to escape. He had switched the license plate on his car and had disguises, including wigs and glasses, in his motel room. However, the swift response of Lafayette police officers, who arrived on the scene in under a minute, thwarted his plan. As officers closed in, Houser retreated back into the theater and took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot. Because the sole suspect killed himself, there were no arrests, trials, or convictions in the deaths of Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson. The act was the tragic culmination of one man's history of anger and instability, leaving a community to mourn the senseless loss of two innocent women.
