Armed man involved in fight at Seattle movie theater

Witnesses recall the terrifying moments inside a Seattle movie theater when a fight involving an armed man broke out during a screening.

SEATTLE - Witnesses recall the terrifying moments inside a Seattle movie theater when a fight involving an armed man broke out during a screening.

The fight started when someone tried to pass by the suspect in the theater, and the suspect wouldn’t step aside, according to Seattle Police.

The incident happened on Friday, September 13 at the Regal Thornton Place theater. For Lorenzo and his wife, the entire encounter will be replaying in their minds for some time.

"It was definitely a sleepless night that first night," he said. "One person was on top of another and you can see someone’s arm movements like punches or trying to reach for something."

He was watching Alien Romulus. When that scuffle didn’t stop, he says a woman got involved and that’s when they started heading toward the exit.

"As we were getting up, a third individual, a man in a red coat, I think had good intentions to try and diffuse and separate what was going on," Lorenzo said.

Then, he said the man in the red coat got up, put his hands up and said, ‘it’s cool, it’s cool, sorry man,' and as he made his way down the stairs, said, ‘there’s a gun, there’s a gun.’"

That’s when they began evacuating the theater.

"During that time, it’s alleged that the suspect yelled out ‘I have a gun, I’ll shoot you, I’ll shoot everyone,’" Seattle Police Det. Eric Munoz said. "It’s believed he pulled out the gun and used it as a weapon to violently assault two of the victims," Munoz said.

He said one victim sustained injuries to the ear.

"The ear was almost entirely ripped off and the other victim sustained a head laceration," Munoz said.

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Seattle Police arrested the man armed with the gun.

"Movie theaters are very crowded and very packed. If a gun were to go off, whether intentionally or accidentally, that could create a potential mass casualty scenario and luckily that didn’t happen at this time," Munoz said.

On Monday, the suspect, Devon Mayfield, had his first court hearing. The court found probable cause to charge him with assault and harassment.

Regal Theaters sent FOX 13 Seattle this statement:

"We have received confirmation of an incident at our Thornton Place theatre this weekend. We are currently working with the local authorities regarding the investigation. Our primary concern is for the safety and security of our guests and staff."

"Even if this gunman didn’t have the intention of coming in and shooting up, the situation could have gone much worse than it did," Lorenzo said. "I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have some thoughts in the back of my head the next time, the next few times I go to a movie theater."