Years before John Russel Houser stood up in a crowded Louisiana movie theater, pulled out a .40 caliber handgun and killed two people before turning the gun on himself, his wife became so worried about his “volatile mental state,” she asked for a temporary protective order against him and “removed all guns and/or weapons from their marital residence” in Carroll County.
Nine people ranging in age from their late teens to their late 60s were wounded in the shooting, which occurred 20 minutes into a Thursday night showing of the movie “Trainwreck,” Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said. At least one of the nine people injured was in critical condition. Two were released from the hospital. The condition of the others was not immediately known.
As investigators try to piece together why he opened fire at least 13 times in a theater full of moviegoers, a portrait of Houser began to emerge Friday in court documents and interviews with those who knew him.
A drifter who had been living in a Lafayette, La., motel since early July, Houser was estranged from his family, authorities said.
Relatives asked for a temporary protective order in 2008 against him, saying that he “exhibited extreme erratic behavior and has made ominous as well as disturbing statements.”
The documents said that even though he lived in Phenix City, Ala., he had come to their home in Carroll County and “perpetrated various acts of family violence.”
Houser “has a history of mental health issues, i.e., manic depression and/or bi-polar disorder,” the filing said.
The protection order was at least temporarily granted.
Houser’s wife, Kellie Maddox Houser, filed for divorce in March.
Other court documents from 2008 say family members petitioned the probate court to have him involuntarily committed “because he was a danger to himself and others.”
A judge issued the order, and John Houser was taken to a hospital in Columbus, where he once ran for political office.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper reported Friday that Rembert Houser, Houser's late father, was a longtime Columbus city tax commissioner.
The younger Houser withdrew from his own campaign for commissioner after being charged with stealing his opponent’s yard signs, the newspaper reported.
“He came to many city council meetings and he was in tune with a lot of issues that were going on in the community,” former Columbus Mayor Bobby Peters told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Peters, now a Superior Court judge, told the newspaper: “He was very outspoken, highly intelligent, really didn’t trust government and anything about government. He always thought something was going on behind the scenes. He came across with a very conservative agenda.”
A LinkedIn page that was not immediately verified but features a picture of Houser indicates he owned the Peachtree Pub in Columbus from March 1979 to August 1980 and Rusty's Buckhead Pub in LaGrange from April 1998 to July 2000.
The account holder described the Peachtree Pub as the first oldies bar in Columbus and the first to have a live jazz band, while Rusty’s Buckhead Pub was described as having “well-rounded bands, food and genuine communication.”
According to the profile, the 59-year-old Houser lived in Phenix City, a town just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus and about 110 miles southwest of Atlanta.
The account holder said Houser received an accounting degree from Columbus State University in 1988 and a law degree from Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., in 1991.
Late Friday morning, Columbus State confirmed Houser graduated from the institution. He is not listed as a member of state bar associations in Georgia or Alabama, but the Ledger-Enquirer reported he had been admitted at one point to practice law in Alabama after attending an unaccredited night law school.
According to the LinkedIn profile, Houser was a regular guest on a television show at an NBC affiliate in Columbus.
“Invited political controversy on every one of them,” the account holder wrote, “and loved every minute of it.”
Calvin Floyd, who hosted the "Rise & Shine" television show told NBC News Houser's behavior was known to be erratic.
“He was on from time to time because he was a very radical person with radical views,” Floyd said. “He was a Republican and then I would have someone with a real strong Democrat view on.”
He said he knew Houser through Rembert Houser, the longtime Columbus tax commissioner.
Floyd said Houser was recently selling car parts at a local flea market.
Asked if he was surprised when he heard Houser was the movie theater shooter, Floyd said “no.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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