Suspect in Tennessee movie theater attack identified

UPDATE: Police have identified the assailant in the Tennessee movie theater attack as 29-year-old Vincente David Montano of Nashville, who had been committed four times for psychiatric treatment.

Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said at a news conference late Wednesday that Montano had “significant psychiatric or psychological issues” and had been arrested in 2004 for assault and resisting arrest. He said a fingerprint taken at the theater matched that from his arrest.

UPDATE (8:55 p.m.): Nashville police now say the man who staged an attack inside a movie theater was armed with a pellet gun. Police spokesman Don Aaron told The Associated Press moments before police were scheduled to hold a briefing on the attack.

Earlier, authorities said the unidentified assailant, who police now say was a 29-year-old local man, was armed with a regular gun and had exchanged fire with a police officer before being shot dead by a SWAT team. Investigators also said the man was carrying two backpacks, one of which had a fake device made to look like a bomb.

UPDATE (5:35 p.m.): An attacker at a suburban Nashville, Tenn., movie theater this afternoon unleashed a volley of pepper spray but did not cause any serious injuries, police said. The man, believed to be a 51-year-old, white local, was also armed with a gun and a hatchet. He exchanged fire with a police officer, who shot and killed him.

Three people were treated at the scene for pepper spray exposure, and one had superficial wounds that could have been caused by a hatchet. No one was taken to the hospital. Police have not commented on a possible motive for the attack.

OUR EARLIER STORY (4:42 p.m.): A man wielding a gun and a hatchet attacked a movie theater in suburban Nashville, Tenn., this afternoon, wounding at least one person.

The suspect, who has not yet been named, is dead.

According to Metro Nashville police, an officer responded to reports of shots fired in a showing of Mad Max at the Carmike Hickory 8 theater in Antioch, Tenn. The suspect fired on the officer when he attempted to enter the theater. After a SWAT team arrived, officers exchanged fire with the suspect again. When SWAT team members entered the theater, they found him dead.

Police discovered two backpacks on or near the shooter and are examining them now.

A police spokesman provided scant information on possible casualties or victims, except to say one person might have suffered a hatchet wound.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.