Police: Suspect in Theater Attack Had Fake Gun, Was Committed Four Times
Authorities have identified 29-year-old Vincente Montano as the man shot dead by Nashville police on Wednesday after attacking patrons of a Tennessee movie theater, WSMV reports.
According to police, Montano was carrying an airsoft pellet gun and a fake bomb in addition to the hatchet and pepper spray he used in his assault on Antioch’s Carmike Hickory 8 Theatre.
UPDATE: Metro police say suspect in shooting at Antioch theater was carrying this pellet gun. pic.twitter.com/Uv2Lbod76A
August 6, 2015
“If someone confronted you with it, you would think it was a real pistol,” police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters on Wednesday.
According to Aaron, Montano had “significant psychiatric or psychological issues.” From The Tennessean:
Aaron said in a 7:45 p.m. press conference that Montano had been arrested on an assault charge in Murfreesboro in 2004. Montano had been committed for mental health care a total of four times, in 2004 and 2007, he said. He had also been reported as a missing person Aug. 3, Aaron said.
Authorities say two women were treated at the scene for pepper spray exposure and a man was injured by the suspect’s hatchet but suffered only superficial injuries.
[Image via Nashville Police]