Man allegedly brought gun to 'Dark Knight'

WESTLAKE, Ohio, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A police officer moonlighting as a guard at an Ohio movie theater said he found a gun in a bag a man carried into a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Scott A. Smith of North Ridgeville, a Cleveland suburb, was arrested Saturday night at the Regal Cinema in Westlake, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported. He was being held without bail.

Jeremiah Bullins, an off-duty Westlake officer working at the theater, became suspicious Saturday night when Smith walked into the theater long before the show was scheduled to start carrying a bag, Lt. Ray Arcuri said. Bullins asked Smith for a look inside and allegedly found knives and a loaded Glock 9mm handgun.

The arrest occurred about two weeks after a graduate school dropout killed 12 people and wounded 58 during a midnight premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a theater in Aurora, Colo.

"After Colorado anything is possible," Arcuri said. "When you consider the movie he was going to and what happened in Colorado, you have to wonder what would make him want to bring the weapons into that particular film. Our police officer did a great job spotting him."

Smith, a military veteran, is being held without bail on weapons charges. Police said they found more weapons and survivalist items in a search of his home.