Police near Nashville, Tennessee, fatally shot a 51-year-old man Wednesday who apparently was planning an attack inside a movie theater.
People watching the film "Mad Max: Fury Road" suddenly rushed out of the theater when the suspect released a chemical that police believe was pepper spray.
He fired a gun at an officer who entered the theater, and was gunned down by police when he ran out the back door and refused to surrender.
Nashville police said the man was carrying a hatchet, along with the gun. He also was carrying two backpacks. A bomb squad detonated one of the bags when officers said they were "not comfortable" with what they saw inside. No other details were immediately given.
Three people in the theater were treated for exposure to pepper spray. One of them also was treated for a superficial wound that may have been caused by the hatchet.
Police have not released the identity of the gunman and are still looking for a motive.
Wednesday's incident came just two weeks after another middle-age gunman killed two people and wounded nine in a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana.
It also came as a jury decides whether James Holmes should be put to death for the 2012 Colorado movie theater massacre that killed 12.
