Eyewitness Emily Mann Describes Chaos Inside Of Grand 16 Theater Shooting, Says Gunman’s Hand Was ‘Shaky’ [VIDEO]
Emily Mann was sitting about five seats away from the shooter when gunfire rang out in the Grand 16 Theater in Lafayette, LA.
Mann detailed the chaotic moment when the man, 59-year-old John Russell Houser, stood up and fired the first shot.
The first shot, I thought it was a firecracker
Emily says the crowd went completely silent in what she described as a "strange calm" as everyone in that 7 p.m. screening of Trainwreck were hoping it was anything but what they thought it could be.
After a long pause, the gunman continued to fire in a semi-circle. Mann said she immediately got down but could see the flashes of light with each blast from the gun over her shoulder. When the gun made its way toward her she was sure she would be shot in the back.
Nevertheless, Mann was determined to survive—leaving her phone, purse and even a shoe behind as a woman helped her escape around a corner, pulling her to safety. She says people weren't climbing over one another to save themselves, they were trying to save each other.
There was an immediate understanding that every single person in that room was going through the same thing and that we all needed to get out
Mann was able to run out into the lobby as the chaos continued to unfold in theater 14, but described feeling a strange sense of guilt she survived.
I’ve replayed it a million times, just trying to figure out, you know, had he been a better shot, had he brought an automatic weapon. All those things that could have gone worse, and it’s all those things that could have lined up to be there. Had he chosen a different movie, maybe a kids movie?
Houser was able to injure nine people and kill two—21-year-old Mayci Breaux of Franklin, LA who died at the scene and 33-year-old Jillian Johnson of Lafayette, LA who died later at the hospital—before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.
Watch Mann's interview with Anderson Cooper here.
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