Police say Tennessee movie theater attack suspect carried an Airsoft BB gun

Police say this is the gun used in the Antioch theater shooting. — (Image credit: Twitter.com/Tennessean)

Police in Antioch, Tennessee, say the suspect who entered a movie theater Wednesday afternoon with a hatchet is 29-year-old Vincente Montano.

Montano had previously been arrested on assault charges and committed for mental health care four times in 2004 and 2007, police spokesman Don Aaron said. He was also reported as a missing person on August 3. Police say the suspect entered the Carmike Hickory 8 Cinemas with a hatchet and backpack strapped to him, as well as an Airsoft gun, a fake gun that shoots plastic BBs, The Tennessean reports.

At 1:13 p.m., police received a call about an active shooter at the movie theater. The suspect was shot and killed by SWAT team officers after he "came at them in a threatening manner [and] they opened fire," police said. Officials say two women, ages 53 and 17, were injured by pepper spray, and a 58-year-old man sustained a wound from the hatchet to his shoulder.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.