Twilight Tragedy Averted? Man Arrested for Alleged Breaking Dawn Theater Shooting Plot

Police say 20-year-old Missouri man was planning on opening fire at a theater tonight and also targeted a nearby Walmart

By Natalie Finn Nov 17, 2012 12:08 AMTags
Breaking Dawn, Blaec James LammersSummit Entertainment, Bolivar Police Department

Police may have stopped a real-life horror story from taking shape during a screening of Breaking Dawn: Part 2.

A 20-year-old man from Bolivar, Mo., was arrested yesterday and charged with felony assault, making a terrorist threat and armed criminal action after his concerned mother contacted police to report that her son had purchased assault weapons similar to the ones used in the Dark Knight Rises theater shooting in July, according to the Bolivar Police Department.

"Blaec Lammers stated that he had purchased tickets to go see the Twilight movie...and he was going to shoot people at the movie theatre on that night," Det. Dusty Ross said in a statement released after he interviewed Lammers.

Lammers had a ticket to go see Breaking Dawn: Part 2 at B&B Theatre in Bolivar tonight, according to Ross.

The detective stated that Lammers may have changed plans and targeted a nearby Walmart instead after realizing "that he might run out of ammunition."

"He would walk into the store and just start shooting people at random, and if he ran out of ammunition (he said he purchased 400 rounds), he would just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep on shooting until the police arrived."

Summit Entertainment has not yet returned a request for comment.

"I think it would have been something he would have done solely on his own," Ross  the Bolivar Herald-Free Press after interviewing the suspect. But, he added, in his opinion, Lammers had a fully conceived plan.

"You'll come across people who will make threats toward people and events, but they don't actually take the substantial steps that he took in planning it out," Ross said. "He got the idea, he purchased the guns, purchased the ammo, went out and practiced using the gun, got his venue, got tickets to the venue, then thought 'Well, maybe if I run out of ammo, I need to pick a different venue.'

"He had taken every step he needed to take except for actually committing the act."

Lammers' mother "did a heroic thing" by alerting authorities and advising them of how they could find her son, said Bolivar City Administrator Darin Chappell.

Lammers, who is currently behind bars at Polk County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond, had purchased one rifle, a .223, on Monday and then another, a .22, the following day, both from Walmart, Ross said.

After a gunman opened fire on a theater full of people at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in July, killing 12 and injuring 58, security was beefed up at theaters all over the country and some chains banned moviegoers from wearing masks and costumes.

James Holmes, a former University of Colorado doctoral candidate, has been charged with 24 counts of first-degree murder (two per victim due to special circumstances), 116 counts of attempted murder, one count of enhancement for his use of firearms and one count of illegal possession of an explosive or incendiary device in the Aurora shooting.