Panicked moviegoers fled a Florida movie theater during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises late Monday night after a man stood up and screamed “This is it!” No one was harmed in the incident, which comes less than 2 weeks after a shooting during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises at an Aurora, Colorado theater left 12 people dead and 58 others wounded. The gunman, 24-year-old James Holmes, was charged this week with 24 counts of first degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder.
The suspect in Monday night’s incident at Regal Movie Theater in Miami Beach has been identified as 44-year-old David Escamillo. Witnesses told police Escamillo walked up and down the stairway in the theater several times and got into an argument with another moviegoer at one point. He left the theater after the argument and eventually returned wearing a pair of black gloves. Escamillo walked to the back of the theater and screamed “This is it!”, prompting over 100 people to run from the room.
Three men detained Escamillo until officers arrived and arrested him for disorderly conduct. Escamillo was screaming “I didn’t shoot anybody.”
Authorities say it appears Escamillo had been drinking. He was not armed and no shots were fired during the incident. "We were able to determine there was never any weapon, it was just this individual with the two black gloves saying, 'This is it,'" said Miami Beach Sgt. Bobby Hernandez.
Escamillo, who had an outstanding warrant for battery, is being held on $8,000 bond.
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