Shooting Outside Stockton Theater Sends Audiences Fleeing
STOCKTON (CBS13) — Moviegoers in Stockton rushed out of a movie theater on Sunday after a gunman opened fire outside.
The shooting happened at around 7:30 p.m. outside of the Holiday Cinema 8 on West Lane, though audiences thought the shots were fired inside the theater.
"I know when our initial officers arrived, there were multiple people outside and some still inside the movie theater," said Stockton Police spokesman Joe Silva.
Witnesses say theater goers weren't sure if it was a terrorist attack and ran from both the front and back exits. Two men selling Christmas trees last night said terrified moviegoers ran into their lot. They said they were surprised only three patrol cars showed up at the scene.
Stockton Police say four officers showed up at the theater, but three more were searching for the suspects and the victim who fled the gunfire. Police say it was a dispute that started in the theater.
"He was inside the movie theater when two suspects came up and started arguing with him," Silva said. Then he went outside to wait for his friend to pick him up. Once he got inside that car and started driving away, that's when the suspects fired multiple rounds."
The victim was found uninjured and told police he didn't know his attackers.
The theater has since reopened, though its operator Regal Cinemas declined to comment on the shooting.
