Murfreesboro Police responded to an emergency call after customers at a theater reported bizarre conduct by a man during one of the movies.
Customers said they feared for their lives as they ran from a man acting bizarre and suddenly barged in halfway through the movie.
Police arrived, lights blaring, guns ready at the Carmike Theater on Cason Square Blvd.
It was a late night showing of the Mocking Jay and this 911 call came in to emergency dispatch:
"I was in the movie and this guy was acting really freaking weird. He was in this really big jacket and he like put his hands in his pocket and he stopped and looked around and looked at everybody. He scared everybody. They just bolted out of the theater. Everybody was just running," said the caller.
"Certainly this individual's behavior raised a lot of red flags, scaring people and they did the right thing by getting out of the situation first and calling 911 second," said Sergeant Kyle Evans with the Murfreesboro Police Department.
"It was scary," said a woman who was in the theater and asked we hide her face. She said the man walked in halfway through the movie, went up front and turned toward the seats - never saying a thing, but stared at the audience.
"He looked at us individually and looked at everybody. It looked like he was scoping people out and that's what scared me," she said.
This went on for several minutes and apparently that was enough for the crowd. The patrons ran from the theater and called 911: "Everybody was just running," said the caller. "Everybody else in the theater is running out of the theater because this guy is scaring them.
Officers arrived and questioned the man. He made no overt threats and did not have a weapon.
"He acted in a very threatening manner that scared people. It was a strange and disturbing manner, but not in a way that committed any crimes or law violations," said Sgt. Evans.
Therefore, he wasn't arrested, but told to leave. Evans understood people's concern, and pointed to the incident this summer at another theater in Antioch.
In that case, a deranged suspect was shot and killed after attacking patrons with a hatchet.
Police said these days, you can't be too careful. Security at most theaters has been upgraded in light of recent incidents around the country.
Most all operators now prohibit weapons and reserve the right to search people bags or purses.
