Teenager killed during movie screening in California theater shooting

LOS ANGELES -- A teenager was killed and another injured in a shooting during a movie screening late Monday night in the western US state of California, authorities said Tuesday.

The shooting was reported around 11:45 p.m. Monday local time (0645 GMT on Tuesday) at the Regal Edwards Corona Crossings theater in the city of Corona, according to the local police department.

Corona, home to over 168,000 residents, is located around 72 km southeast of Los Angeles in western Riverside County.

"The 19-year-old male from Corona was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. The 18-year-old female from Corona succumbed to her injuries at the scene," local police said in a press release, adding that the department is taking the lead on the investigation.

The victims were watching action horror film "The Forever Purge," multiple local news outlets reported.

Detectives did not find a gun after searching the theater, and they were trying to determine whether a third person shot the victims or whether the shooting was an attempted murder-suicide, the local newspaper The Press-Enterprise reported, citing police source.

Tobias Kouroubacalis, a Police Department spokesman, told the newspaper that he "did not know if detectives were investigating whether the movie's theme was related to the shooting."

Blumhouse's "The Forever Purge" is the latest film of The Purge franchise. The movie was theatrically released on July 4 after a delay from an original July 2020 date due to the pandemic.