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 The man, identified by Nashville police as Vincente David Montano,
29, was pronounced dead outside the backdoor of the theater, which
was showing "Mad Max: Fury Road."
Montano injured three people when he doused the theater with pepper
spray, police said. The man also had a device in a backpack that was
supposed to look like a bomb, Nashville police said.
"We have no motive," said police spokesman Don Aaron, adding that
Montano has had "significant psychiatric" issues and that police are
looking at his background.
The gun he was carrying looked like a firearm but was an airsoft
pistol, Nashville police.
Aaron told reporters that Montano had been committed for mental
health issues four times, in 2004 and 2007.
Aaron said Montano was arrested for assault and resisting arrest in
2004 near Nashville, and reported as a missing person in Texas on
Monday.
 Police working at an accident scene nearby quickly responded to the
reports of a gunman at the theater, Aaron said. One entered the
theater and encountered the man, who fired at the officer, police
said. The officer returned fire.
The man appeared to be shot dead in a hail of bullets from police
when he tried to exit the theater, a witness said.
"There was dust flying everywhere," said plumber Sean Oliver, who
heard multiple shots and was able to see the back of the theater.
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Three people were treated for exposure to pepper spray, including a
58-year-old man who also suffered a superficial wound to his
shoulder, likely from the ax, Brian Haas of the Nashville Fire
Department told reporters. None of the victims was taken to
hospital.
"This could have been a lot worse," Haas said.
A backpack that had been strapped to the man's chest was later
detonated to eliminate any threat.
The shooting comes less than two weeks after a gunman opened fire in
a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing two people and
wounding nine others before taking his own life.
The Tennessee and Louisiana shootings come three years after 12
people were slain and dozens wounded by a gunman at a cinema in
Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the Batman film
"The Dark Knight Rises."
(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington, Suzannah Gonzales in
Chicago, Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida, Curtis Skinner in San
Francisco, Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by
Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Sandra Maler, Mary Wisniewski, Eric Beech
and Ken Wills)
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Police
fatally shoot ax-wielding man at Nashville movie theater
