Phuket Gazette World News: Man shot dead over Lone Survivor texting

– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: A moviegoer shot and killed one person and wounded another on Monday when an argument over text messaging in a Florida theatre showing the hit new war film Lone Survivor erupted in gunfire, authorities said.

Doug Tobin, a spokesman for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, said the shooter was watching the film with his wife when they got into an argument with another couple in the row of seats directly in front of them over texting in the theatre.

At some point, the assailant, who was not immediately identified, brandished a gun and shot both the man he had been arguing with and his female companion, Tobin said.

“The male victim is deceased. The female victim was injured with non-life threatening injuries,” he said.

Tobin added that the shooter was detained by a fellow moviegoer before being taken into police custody.

Lone Survivor, based on a New York Times best seller, stars Mark Wahlberg and tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

— Phuket Gazette Editors