Judd Apatow Pens Emotional Statement After Louisiana Shooting
Just days after a shooter in Lafayette, Louisiana killed two moviegoers during a screening of the Amy Schumer comedy Trainwreck, the film’s director Judd Apatow implored in a statement following the tragedy, “We, as a country, need to find a way to do better.”
“One of the reasons we make these movies is because the world can be so horrifying and we all need to laugh just to deal with it,” Apatow said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “So to have this happen in a room where people were smiling and laughing devastates me. My thoughts and love go out to the victims and anyone touched by this madness or any madness.”
Police still have not uncovered a motive in the July 23rd shooting, where 59-year-old “drifter” John Russell Houser opened fire during a Thursday night screening of the comedy, killing two women and wounding nine others. Houser killed himself after police quickly responded on the crime scene, thwarting the shooter’s planned escape. Approximately 25 people were in attendance for the Trainwreck screening. One of the victims killed in the shooting, 33-year-old Jillian Johnson, was a member of the Louisiana folk band the Figs, CNN reports.
Soon after the shooting, Schumer tweeted, “My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana.” Universal Pictures also said in a statement, “All of us at Universal Pictures send our heartfelt sympathies to the victims of this senseless tragedy and their families in Louisiana.”
Despite a history of mental problems, CNN writes, Houser was still able to legally acquire the semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting from an Alabama pawnshop because he hadn’t been convicted of any serious crimes.