LAFAYETTE, La. -- The gunman who killed two women and wounded nine people in a theater Thursday night had a history of mental illness and financial trouble, officials said, and reportedly vented hatred of liberals and the government online, predicting the collapse of the United States.
Police identified the gunman as John Russell Houser, 59, of Phenix City, Ala. On Twitter, on anti-government discussion boards and on other forums online, a person using that name and the name Rusty Houser praised the Westboro Baptist Church, Timothy McVeigh and even Adolf Hitler.
"America is so sick that I now believe it to be the enemy of the world," he wrote on one discussion forum. "I know next to nothing about Iran, but the little I do know tells me they are far higher morally than this financially failing filth farm."
Houser was treated in the Phenix City area for an unspecified mental illness in 2008 and 2009, said Heath Taylor, the sheriff of Russell County, Ala. Court records show that he filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002, and the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, Col. Michael Edmonson, said Houser's finances had been poor; he recently received money from his mother.
Taylor said Houser applied in 2006 for a permit to carry a concealed pistol but was denied because he had been arrested on an arson charge; it was unclear whether he was convicted. Alabama does not require a permit or license to buy or own a handgun.
In March 2014, Houser was evicted from a residence in Phenix City, which is on the border with Georgia. A criminal complaint was later filed, accusing him of vandalizing the house.
Law enforcement officials in Louisiana said they were looking into how and when Houser acquired the gun he used in the assault and why he was in Lafayette, some 500 miles away from Phenix City.
Chief Jim Craft of the Lafayette Police Department said Houser bought the weapon legally at a pawnshop in Phenix City last year and that he had visited the theater more than once.
Police said Houser had been in Lafayette since early July and had been staying at a Motel 6. They appealed to the public for help in learning more about the gunman.
Houser had parked a blue 1995 Lincoln Continental, with illegally switched license plates, near an exit door to the Grand Theater, and in his motel room, "we found wigs and glasses and disguises, basically," Craft said at a Friday news conference just outside the crime scene.
"It is apparent that he was intent on shooting and then escaping," Craft said. "What happened is that the quick law enforcement response forced him back into the theater, at which time he shot himself."
Houser bought one of 25 tickets sold for a showing of the comedy Trainwreck and sat for several minutes in the theater, authorities said. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., he began shooting, firing at least 13 rounds from a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Edmonson said, "To put a motive to it is just something that we simply can't do right now." He said there was no known connection between the gunman and any of the victims.
"He was by himself, he sat by himself, and the first two people he shot were right in front of him," Craft said.
He identified the two dead women as Mayci Breaux, 21, and Jillian Johnson, 33. The wounded ranged in age from their teens to their 60s, and one was listed Friday in critical condition. Two were treated and released.
Witnesses said Houser stood at the back of the auditorium, which had steeply pitched, stadium-style seating, and fired down at others. Houser reloaded at least once as he tried to flee the theater, Craft said, and returned when he saw police.
Tanya Clark, 36, who was at the theater to see another movie, was at the concession stand with her three children when she saw people run screaming through the lobby.
"I thought it was just a joke," said her son, Robert Martinez, 17. "People were screaming."
He said a woman in her 60s ran past them shouting that she had been shot in the leg. He saw blood pouring down her leg, he said.
Clark grabbed her 5-year-old daughter and ran, she said, leaving her purse and phone on the concession stand counter.
"I just grabbed her arm," she said. "In that moment, you don't think about anything. That's when you realize that your wallet and phone are not important."
Paige Bearb, a moviegoer who was in a theater next to the one where the shooting took place, said, "We could hear people screaming next door."
An alarm soon sounded, and she ran outside.
"As we were running for our car, I could see people with gunshot wounds and one lady bleeding from the leg with a T-shirt wrapped around it," she said.
Gov. Bobby Jindal visited with some of the victims and their families at a local hospital. He said early Friday that he had spoken with two teachers who had been in the theater together. Both were shot, including one who pulled a fire alarm after being struck in the leg by a bullet.
One teacher told him that "her friend literally jumped over her and, in her account, literally saved her life," he said, adding, "We're going to hear about other acts of selfless heroism."
Craft said that before the shooting, two police officers were already on the property, a 16-screen multiplex on Johnston Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and about 300 people were in the theater at the time. The officers immediately headed to the auditorium as the audience fled.
"As they made their way into the crowd, they heard a shot, and upon entering the theater, the suspect was found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," he said.
Houser had a criminal history, he said, including arson, but all of it was more than 10 or 15 years ago. Edmonson said investigators had "been to his house in Alabama, they've talked to his friends, they've talked to his family."
The family members had not been in contact with him recently, Craft said; Houser's only known connection to Lafayette was a long-dead uncle who once lived here.
Court records describe erratic behavior and threats of violence that led to a brief involuntary hospitalization in 2008 and a restraining order preventing Houser from approaching family members. Houser "has a history of mental health issues, i.e., manic depression and/or bi-polar disorder," his estranged wife, Kellie, told the judge at the time.
Houser's wife filed for divorce in March after 31 years of marriage, saying their differences were irreconcilable and his whereabouts were unknown.
In addition to owning bars in Georgia -- including one where he flew a Nazi banner out front as an anti-government statement -- Houser tried real estate in Phenix City.
"He was pretty even-keeled until you disagreed with him or made him mad," said Jeff Hardin, former mayor of Phenix City. "Then he became your sworn enemy."
Hardin said he once partnered with Houser on a real-estate project, but they had a falling-out and hadn't spoken since around 2007.
Information for this article was contributed by Campbell Robertson, Richard Perez-Pena, Alan Blinder, Leslie Turk and Alain Delaqueriere of The New York Times and by Melinda Deslatte, Michael Kunzelman and staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/25/2015