Authorities are describing the gunman in the movie theater shooting as a 59-year-old man who previously lived in Alabama but is "kind of a drifter" who had been in the Lafayette area since early July.
Police said Friday that John Houser fired a handgun 13 times inside the theater, killing two people and wounding at least nine others before fatally shooting himself.
Lafayette police Chief Jim Craft said the gunman parked his car near the theater's exit door and was intent on escaping, but couldn't because police arrived so quickly. He initially tried escaping by blending into the fleeing crowd, but turned back when he saw police heading inside from the parking lot, authorities said.