Tennessee Theater Assailant Had Pellet Gun, Hatchet

Details are emerging in today's theater attack in Tennessee: Police say a 29-year-old man armed with a pellet gun and a hatchet attacked people this afternoon at a theater in Antioch, near Nashville. Three people were injured, including two women suffering the effects of pepper spray—apparently from the assailant—and a man with what police called a superficial injury to his shoulder from the hatchet, reports the Tennessean. Police shot and killed the assailant, who was wearing a surgical mask, inside the theater playing Mad Max: Fury Road. The assailant has been identified as Vincente Montano, who had been committed for psychiatric issues four times.

Police say Montano came at SWAT officers "in a threatening manner" with a gun that looked real, and they shot and killed him. It turns out he had an Airsoft pistol, which shoots plastic BBs. Montano had some kind of hoax explosive device in his backpack, and police were examining a second backpack found in the theater, reports WKRN. Officers were able to respond quickly because witnesses alerted two who were nearby on a traffic stop. A police spokesman says the first officer who ran into the theater likely saved multiple lives. (More Nashville stories.)