At least 3 men accused of making threats during or after watching the new Batman movie have been arrested in separate incidents, underscoring U.S. moviegoers' anxieties and heightened security in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at a Colorado theatre showing the film.
Moviegoers in Sierra Visa, Arizona, panicked when a man who appeared intoxicated was confronted during a showing of the movie. The Cochise County Sheriff's office said it caused "mass hysteria" and about 50 people fled the theatre.
Michael William Borboa, 27, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, and threatening and intimidating.
A Maine man was arrested when he told authorities that he was on his way to shoot a former employer a day after watching "The Dark Knight Rises," Maine state police said Monday.
Timothy Courtois of Biddeford, Maine, had been stopped for speeding, and a police search of his car found an AK-47 assault weapon, four handguns, ammunition and news clippings about the mass shooting that left 12 people dead early Friday, authorities said.
In Southern California, a man at a Sunday afternoon showing of the film was arrested after witnesses said he made threats and alluded to the Colorado shooting when the movie didn't start.
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were called to a cinema complex in Norwalk after moviegoers said 52-year-old Clark Tabor shouted: "I should go off like in Colorado." They said he then asked: "Does anybody have a gun?"
A security guard saw Tabor with a backpack on his knees in the second row, but deputies who searched the bag, the theatre and its surrounding area did not find any weapon.
Despite some jitters over the horrific shooting, moviegoers around the U.S. still flocked to theatres to see the film, which was the final installment of the phenomenally successful Batman trilogy. Warner Bros. reported that it brought in $160.9 million over the weekend, making it the third highest opening weekend ever, after "The Avengers" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2."
