Moviegoer Killed In Maryland

Shot By Stranger Who Allegedly Planned Slaying For Months

(AP)  The crime was as inexplicable as it was brutal. Authorities say a young man suddenly rose from his seat in a movie theater, ordered the audience to the floor and began firing a handgun at the person sitting closest to him, killing a complete stranger.

As his victim lay bleeding in the aisle, police say Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar walked out of the theater, placed the gun with one bullet left on a counter and told the manager he had shot someone. He then waited for police to arrive and told them he had been planning to kill someone for several months.

While authorities say it is not known what prompted the 24-year-old to shoot Paul Schrum about 20 minutes into the screening of "X-Men: The Last Stand," at a theater in a Baltimore suburb. But his family has said he is mentally ill.

"He doesn't really understand what he did," his sister, Gul Jabber, told The (Baltimore) Sun. "I personally don't think he knows where he is and what's going on. He's very confused."

Jabbar, who was charged with first-degree murder and handgun use in commission of a violent crime, waived his right to a bail hearing Monday. A prosecutor said the crime was believed to be random.

"There is absolutely no indication it is anything other than random," said Stephen Bailey, a deputy state's attorney for Baltimore County.

Jabbar was not in court Monday for the bail hearing.

When Baltimore County police arrived at the theater Thursday, Jabbar was waiting to tell them matter-of-factly what happened.

"During post-Miranda questioning, he said that he had in fact shot the victim and that he had planned on killing someone for several months," according to charging documents.

Schrum, a 62-year-old medical supplies salesman and married father of two was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one else was hurt.