LA theater shooting during ‘The Forever Purge’ leaves teen dead, TikTok star hurt
A woman was killed and her TikTok star friend was critically injured while watching the newest installment of “The Purge” in a California movie theater Monday night, police said.
Rylee Goodrich, 18, was found dead and Anthony Barajas, 19, was gravely wounded during a 9:30 p.m. screening of “The Forever Purge,” a horror movie about a dystopian America where murder is legal once a year for 12 hours, according to the Corona Police Department.
Staff at the Regal Edwards Corona Crossings movie theater discovered both victims while cleaning up after the movie ended.
“During the actual movie time, no one apparently heard the gunshot,” employee Kailyn Dillon told KCAL. “I know that we do have security bag checks that we do on the daily and, unfortunately, I’m not sure if just was missed or if it was in a holster on their belt.”
Barajas, a TikTok personality with more than 1 million followers, last posted about a family vacation five days ago.
The circumstances around the violence about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles are unclear.
Investigators are trying to figure out if a random shooter escaped the theater, or if the man or woman was responsible for the gunfire in a murder-suicide.
“They’re still going through the theater and looking for evidence that would send us in one direction or another,” Corona police Cpl. Tobias Kouroubacalis told the paper. “We’re working in the blind.”
Cops did not recover a firearm at the scene.
“Detectives are conducting follow-up on all investigative leads with hopes of identifying the person(s) responsible for this heinous crime,” police said.
