Sunday, September 22, 2013

Man urinating on teenager led to gun scare in cinema

An elderly man who urinated on a teenager in an Oregon movie theatre sparked a panic when a woman who suffers from PTSD, for some reason screamed the word "gun" multiple times. It all started inside the Regal Cinemas in Bridgeport Village just after 6pm.on Friday. The audience was watching the final minutes of the movie Prisoners, when a man stood up and urinated on a teenage boy sitting in the row in front of him.

In the ensuing chaos, someone yelled "gun," according to investigators. The call for help came into to 911 dispatchers as a disturbance with a gun inside of a movie theater at Bridgeport Village, triggering a massive response from multiple agencies rushing to get to the theater in time. Investigators say they quickly figured out what happened after talking to the 14-year-old boy and his family.



According to police, it was a woman who suffers from PTSD that saw the confrontation, and for some reason screamed the word "gun" multiple times in the middle of the theatre, triggering a mass evacuation. "Obviously with the recent shootings going on, just the mention of the word gun, I find it strange how on edge people seem, and how easily it can turn into a situation when the SWAT team comes out," said Bartlett.

The elderly man was not arrested, and the family chose not to press charges. Police say the man is no longer allowed back into the Regal Cinemas at Bridgeport Village. Investigators believe alcohol may have contributed to the man's actions. Tigard Police say the situation served as good practice for how they would respond in the event of an actual mall shooting, adding that everything went according to plan.

With news video.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The woman that yelled gun should be arrested....it's like yelling fire in a crowded theater...it causes undue panic..and people can get hurt

Barbwire said...

With all the shootings in the U.S., maybe we should change the saying from shouting "Fire" to shouting "Gun". It's much more likely to happen.

Anonymous said...

Anon- you don't seem to understand PTSD. That would be like arresting someone for having a heart attack.