Cops: Ohio man brought gun, knives to Batman screening

In this photo provided by the Westlake, Ohio, Police Department shows Scott A. Smith. / AP Photo/Westlake Police Department

(AP) WESTLAKE, Ohio - Ohio police say a man brought a gun, ammunition and several knives to a showing of the latest Batman movie so he could protect himself, not because he had sinister intentions.

Westlake Police Sgt. Mark Krumheuer said 37-year-old Scott A. Smith, of North Ridgeville, brought the weapons to a Saturday showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" for "his protection," but he would not elaborate.

Last month, a gunman killed 12 people at a showing of the same movie in Aurora, Colo.

Police say a theater manager and an off-duty police officer working security stopped Smith and found the weapons inside a bag they thought looked suspicious. Smith was arrested and remains jailed.

Krumheuer says Smith is expected to be indicted on weapons charges. A message was left for Smith's attorney.

[ReckonedTruth]

by LBMonizRetiredJournalist August 8, 2012 12:19 AM EDT
A couple of theater-goers with legally carried firearms could have prevented the slaughter and wounding of 70 people in Aurora. What a surprise if the killer had suddenly had a couple of upright citizens shooting back!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sure ...I can see it now.. several PPL shooting GUNS in a dark movie theater at an alledge shooter ..ARE YOU SERIOUS? The word darkness(no clear vision) should give you a clue..

[credibility2]

Our permissive society has produced a bunch of mental defectives.

[ladyang]

Would anyone one of you take your children to a movie if there were a sign posted that read "loaded guns are allowed"?

Only cowards would carry and or use a gun for any purpose.

But good luck with sleeping at night once you have killed someone!

Ask any sevicemember how well they sleep!

[Ulgnud]

If he was genuinely that nervous why not have a small canister of pepper spray? Better yet, stay home and rent the movie when it comes out. Colorado, horrible as it was, is not the norm.

[andacar]

I can't help noticing that most of you are missing the point here. There is an epidemic right now, but it's not of guns. It's an epidemic of hostile, emotionally childish aimless losers that fester in their apartments or in mom's basement. They obsess day and night about something really sick till they crack, then they go out and kill people. Some use guns, but others catch kids and eat them, or make bombs. If you really want to prevent this kind of horrible thing stop arguing about guns and start talking about better mental healthcare (oops, that word!) in the country.

[AttyFAM]

The vast majority use guns. They are just so convenient. And they kill at a distance. Knives do not. (Can you name one mass murderer who used a knife????) And bombs are harder to make and to actually work.

[Mathion]

I have one word for people who carry guns: COWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

F*cking cowards is two words. They have no skills, no sense, no brains and no excuse to be carrying.

And why is it every gun enthusiast and pro-gun moron looks like this potato-head? Close-cropped hair, fat, prison ***** goatee (at least he's ready for the life behind bars) and a vacuous expression? THESE people ARM themselves?

Cowards. Every one of them. So afraid of life they prepare to take it from others.

I have no fear of morons on the street randomly killing me. But people should be afraid of these gun-toting imbeciles who are so afraid of life that they'd go off and arm themselves. They're far more likely to act badly toward a random person (Zimmerman - who looks like this guy, too - is one example) than a crazy with an AR-15. And if any one of these morons ever pulls their gun in public near me, they'll need a proctologist to get it back.

[Just_Ben_Dover]

I might be a coward for carrying a gun, but you are an idiot. Tough to fix stupid....

[650-hp-sohc]

absulute.cowards.nra says i should arm my self.the money they make from cowards is incredible.

[bobnjersey]

[Ohio police say a man brought a gun, ammunition and several knives to a showing of the latest Batman movie so he could protect himself,]
---------------------------------------------
oh ... the good old days ... when it used to just be a package of twizlers and a box of juju bees ... that people were trying to sneak into the theatre with.

[venusvegasvada]

Local Ohio news offers a bit more information than this story does.

Although his story may be true, claiming you simply wanted to defend yourself from others would be a convenient story to tell if you actually planning to commit an attack and got busted before you could do anything.

Great work by the way on the part of the off-duty police officer in the theater.

More on this story:

http://westlake.patch.com/articles/regal-cinema-employee-westlake-police-officer-hailed-for-preventing-tragedy-at-regal-cinema

http://westlake.patch.com/articles/regal-cinema-suspect-described-as-quiet

[hypnotoad72]

The best thing that came out of Ohio is Devo...

But doesn't Ohio have conceal and carry laws? A cursory search seems to reveal something along those lines, but I'm too fatigued to care to do more research right now and there's another tangential point to make:

Colorado, to the last of my knowledge, does, but that didn't stop any gunslinger in that movie theater that fateful day from outshooting the other shooter...

[ReckonedTruth]

aah..I BELIEVE all movie theaters are GUN FREE ZONE..is it not? Even if you have a concealed weapon's permit..I would hope this guy would know the requirement to maintain a permit.. if not or if
he was being difiant.. then his permit should be revoked..
.

and so after colorado..WHY would anyone carry a weapon into a movie theatre? Would we think if you did as such? That maybe you MIGHT be a copycat to the colorado shooter?

So hell yeah, he should be held until he is checked out by the FBI..

[dannysteele]

I must disagree with your first statement. The best thing to come out of Ohio is Pere Ubu.

[chef_tim_w]

So , why was he arrested and why is he still in jail? If he was a law-abiding citizen he should have just been turned away from the theater if the management chose not to allow weapons inside. There is a lot missing from this story!!!