2 weeks Ago By Catalina Gaitán
A 30-year-old man faces an assault charge after allegedly brandishing a handgun and getting into a fistfight that ripped off half of another moviegoer’s left ear inside a movie theater in Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood Friday night, police said. Seattle police arrested the man after witnesses who had evacuated the theater pointed him out to officers as he was leaving the scene. Officers found a handgun on the man’s right hip, according to a Seattle Police Department report.
The Seattle Times typically does not name suspects until they are charged. Officers responded to a report of a person brandishing a gun inside the Regal Thornton Place on Third Avenue Northeast and Northeast 103rd Street shortly before 10 p.m.
Friday, police said. Regal’s admittance policy prohibits people from carrying weapons into its theaters. A moviegoer told police he had gotten up during the movie to use the restroom and buy some popcorn when the suspect refused to let him walk by.
The suspect sitting down eventually let the other man pass, but refused to let the man through when he returned several minutes later, according to the police report. A woman sitting nearby approached the men and asked the suspect why he wouldn’t let the other man pass. The suspect stood up and pushed the woman, then started punching them both repeatedly while saying he had a gun and threatening to shoot them, police said.
Other moviegoers attempted to wrestle the suspect away but eventually evacuated, leaving the woman and two men alone inside the theater. The man and woman tried leaving, but the suspect chased after them and blocked the exit, according to the police report. The male victim was missing about half of his left ear and the woman was bleeding from her hairline when officers arrived, police said.
No shot was fired, police said. Police said the two victims were able to get past the man and exit the theater. Both were taken to Harborview Medical Center.
A King County District Court judge determined there was probable cause to hold the 30-year-old suspect at the King County Jail on charges of second-degree assault and harassment. His bail was set at $150,000, said King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney..
