Police shoot alleged gunman inside San Diego movie theater

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A screening of Les Misérables in northern San Diego was interrupted on Saturday afternoon when police officers shot an armed suspect who had attempt to hide inside the theater.

Tom Billodeaux, 20, was taken to the hospital after being shot in the arm and chest. He is expected to survive. No one else was injured during the incident, which terrified movie patrons.

“We all got on the floor and then started heading for the exits,” one moviegoer told KGTV.

Billodeaux was involved in an alleged domestic violence incident nearby the Reading Cinemas Carmel Mountain. Witnesses told police that he had started a fight with his girlfriend and then brandished a handgun when others tried to intervene.

By the time police arrived, Billodeaux had fled inside the cinema. Police searched theater to theater, until two officers discovered him.

“As the officer approached the suspect, the officer gave the suspect verbal commands to determine if he was armed,” San Diego Police Department Lt. Ernie Herbert said. “The suspect initially complied by raising his empty hands, but then lowered them quickly into his lap. The suspect raised a handgun and turned it toward the officer. The officer shot the suspect and the suspect was taken into custody.”

Watch video, courtesy of KGTV, below:

[Crime scene image via Shutterstock]