By: Russ Burlingame on August 7, 2012
An off-duty police officer arrested an Ohio man on Saturday who was spotted trying to enter a screening of Christopher Nolan’s latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, with a loaded gun, extra rounds of ammunition and four knives, according to Cleveland.com.
The officer, who was working security at the Regal Cinema in Westlake, Ohio while off-duty, spotted a man in his thirties, entering a theater alone and carrying a bag. When he asked to inspect the bag, he discovered all but one of the weapons; the suspect had one knife on his person. The suspect reportedly offered to return the bag to his car and go watch the movie unarmed, but he was turned over to local law enforcement instead.
“After Colorado, anything is possible,” said police Lt. Ray Arcuri when talking to the press.
Apparently, the defendant’s lawyers agree.
“In light of the shooting in Colorado and similar threats, if he did bring a handgun to the theater it would have been for his personal protection and there would have been no intention of shooting anyone or causing a panic,” said Matthew Bruce, Smith’s attorney.
