Joker audience flees cinema after false reports of shooting

Long Beach Police Department said ‘suspicious’ man seen at venue

The audience at a screening of Joker in Long Beach, California fled the cinema after false reports of a shooting.

Police were dispatched to the Regal Edwards cinema on Saturday 5 October after they received calls that there were shots coming from the theatre, according to the Long Beach Post.

The Long Beach Police Department posted a statement on their official Facebook page that said: “‪Officers were on scene within a minute of dispatch and discovered patrons had self-evacuated due to a suspicious male adult who was wearing a backpack and looking out at the crowd near an emergency exit inside the theatre.”

It added: “The suspect was detained and was not found in possession of any weapons, however he was taken into custody for an unrelated outstanding warrant.”

The evacuation comes after another California cinema cancelled screenings of Joker last week following a “credible threat”.

Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Batman's sadistic nemesis, has proved controversial for its portrayal of violence and there have been heightened security fears surrounding its release.

Last month, several of the victims of the 2012 mass shooting at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises spoke out about concerns over the film. In response, Warner Bros promised “it is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers or the studio to hold this character up as a hero”.

Police in cities across the US, including New York and Las Vegas, have stepped up patrols at cinemas showing the movie and many venues have banned masks and toy weapons at screenings.

Joker is out now in UK cinemas.