1 Slain, 1 Hurt at Silent Movie Theater

One person was killed and another was wounded during an attempted robbery Friday night at the Silent Movie Theater in the Fairfax district, police said.

The shooting occurred during the showing of a film about 8:30 p.m. inside the theater in the 600 block of North Fairfax Avenue, police said. The identities of the injured were not immediately available.

Details remained sketchy late Friday, but about 70 moviegoers were being interviewed inside the building by police, and half a block on either side of the theater entrance was cordoned off. Police said movie patrons reported hearing at least three or four shots. No suspects were in custody.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis said one of the victims was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

One patron said the gunman was in the back of the theater. She said she heard five shots and the owner of the theater, who was standing near the front, was struck in the head. A 19-year-old employee was shot in the chest, she said.

“I thought it was fireworks, people were laughing,” she said. Then a man stood up “and screamed, ‘Get down!’ ”

The assailants ran down an aisle and out the back door into the alley, she said.

The historic theater, across the street from Fairfax High School, was refurbished in 1991.