Gunfire reported at Davis County theater were illegal fireworks, police say
Aug 11, 2024, 2:45 PM | Updated: Aug 12, 2024, 11:04 am
Police cruisers are parked outside the Layton Police Department on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. They responded to a situation where gunfire heard at a Layton theater turned out to be illegal fireworks. (Spenser Heaps/Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps/Deseret News)
LAYTON, Utah — A movie theater was evacuated Saturday after moviegoers inside reported hearing gunshots to police. After concluding an investigation, police said there was a group of young people who lit prohibited fireworks outside the theater.
Police are still searching for the suspects who lit the fireworks, and said they cannot confirm their ages.
At approximately 9:25 p.m. Saturday, people from inside the AMC Layton Hills 9 theater made calls to 911, according to the Layton City Police Department’s public information officer, Lt. Travis Lyman. He said multiple people in different theater rooms inside heard the blasts and reported them to police.
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Evacuations took place and a strong police presence arrived in “an abundance of caution.” That was in case the situation turned out to be an active shooter, he said.
Witnesses outside told officers they had seen the group of young people lighting fireworks and there were casings found on the north side of the building. It was not specified what kind of fireworks they were.
Lyman said police are still searching for the people involved in lighting the fireworks. He said depending on multiple factors, they could face citations or charges. In the state of Utah, officials permit fireworks only at certain times during the year.
He urged anyone in a similar situation to do the same as the moviegoers who called police, even though the resources were not met with a dangerous emergency in this situation.
