Lafayette Movie Theater Shooting: 911 Calls, Videos Reveal Moments Before, After Shooting

Callers can be heard rapidly breathing in newly released audio of the 911 calls.

ByAvianne Tan and Josh Margolin
July 30, 2015, 2:22 PM

— -- Newly released surveillance footage, police dash-cam video and 911 calls show what happened just moments before and after a gunman opened fire in a Lafayette, Louisiana movie theater auditorium, where he killed two people and wounded nine others last week.

Security video released today by authorities shows 59-year-old John Russell Houser, wearing an untucked white short-sleeve shirt and khaki shorts, moments before the shooting this past Thursday.

He can be seen purchasing a ticket, walking through The Grand 16 theater's lobby and going down a hallway to the auditorium where he opened fire 20 minutes into a screening of "Trainwreck."

Parts of 911 calls made reporting the shooting were released by authorities today, revealing the horrifying experience theatergoers went through.

Several callers, who can be heard breathing rapidly, described the shooter to dispatchers as white man in a white polo shirt and khaki shorts who was shooting directly at people in auditorium 14 of the theater.

Even after police and an ambulance arrived on the scene, a frantic caller requested, "We need more ambulances at The Grand theater."

PHOTO: This undated photo provided by the Lafayette Police Department shows John Russel Houser, in Lafayette, La.
This undated photo provided by the Lafayette Police Department shows John Russel Houser, in Lafayette, La. Authorities have identified Houser as the gunman who opened fire in a movie theater on July 23, 2015, in Lafayette.

Police dispatch audio revealed officers' worries about the shooter as well. Dash-cam video from one police car shows the vehicle speeding down to the theater with its sirens blaring .

"I don't have time to read all these messages," one responding cop can be heard saying on dispatch audio. "Can you give me any information on the suspect? I don't want to walk into a guy with a gun."

Another cop who just arrived at the scene can be heard, saying, "Alright, headquarters, listen. We need everybody over here. Send me anybody you got."

One cop can later be helping guide and calm down officers on the scene who were entering the theater the suspect is in.

"Several more victims are down!" one cop can be heard yelling, adding that the suspect was also down.

PHOTO: Authorities park at the scene of a shooting at The Grand Theatre, in Lafayette, La. on July 24, 2015.
Authorities park at the scene of a shooting at The Grand Theatre, in Lafayette, La. on July 24, 2015.

Houser, who killed himself, is among three people who died, police said.

The other two were Mayci Breaux, 21, of Franklin, Louisiana, who died at the theater, and Jillian Johnson, 33, of Lafayette, who died at the hospital.

Police said it was apparent Houser "was intent on shooting and escaping" because he left his 1995 blue Lincoln Continental parked near the exit.

After he opened fire on movie-goers, Houser exited the theater through a side door, the Lafayette Police Department said. Houser reloaded his weapon just as an officer arrived at the scene. Houser then re-entered the screening room where he fired his gun again and shot himself, police said.

The security video disputes a witness account previously given to ABC News from a woman who described the shooter as "wearing a hat and a big jacket."

A public information officer for the Lafayette Police Department told ABC News they are aware of the eyewitness' statement, but that she is wrong because he was found entering, walking and then dead in the same untucked shirt and shorts.

There were 300 people in the building at the time of the shooting, police said, and 25 tickets were sold for the movie where the shooting took place.