Just weeks after the horror of the Aurora massacre, a movie-goer has been arrested after allegedly taking a satchel full of weapons into a screening of The Dark Knight Rises.
Police said that 37-year-old Scott A Smith took a bag containing a loaded Glock 9mm pistol, two magazines and three knives into a cinema in Westlake, Ohio, on Saturday night, and carried another knife on his person.
Smith’s arrest comes just a few weeks after suspect James Holmes was taken into custody for shooting dead 12 people and injuring 58 at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado.
The alarming cache of weapons was discovered by an off-duty policeman, according to Cleveland.com.
Lt. Ray Arcuri told the newspaper that Westlake Officer Jeremiah Bullins asked to look inside Smith’s satchel after he entered the cinema on his own 30 minutes before the film was due to start.
Suspect: James Holmes, pictured in court in July
Arcuri said: "After Colorado anything is possible. When you consider the movie he was going to and what happened in Colorado, you have to wonder what would make him want to bring the weapons into that particular film. Our police officer did a great job spotting him."
Arcuri added: "When Bullins asked why he carried the weapons into the theatre, the man said, 'No problem. I'll put them in my car.' But it was too late for that."
According to the authorities Smith co-operated fully with the bag search and is being held without bail in the Westlake jail.