Video shows armed police storming AMC movie theater in San Jose

Moviegoers at an AMC theater in San Jose were left stunned Saturday night when a team of armed police officers entered during a screening.

Video recorded by someone in the audience shows a San Jose Police Department officer aiming a firearm fitted with a tactical light toward the theater seats.

Officers were responding to reports of a man with a gun inside AMC Saratoga 14 in West San Jose at about 8 p.m. on Oct. 3. The film was stopped midway, the lights came on, and police entered Theater 13.

In the video, one officer tells patrons to raise their hands. “Sorry to interrupt. Put your hands up real quick, both hands. Stand up,” the officer says.

Police said the reported suspect had long red hair and was wearing a black T-shirt and shorts. The officer then instructed the person to move closer, saying, “Sorry for the inconvenience. Walk towards us over here. Keep your hands up.”

The officer appeared to be addressing the person who matched the reported description and directing him toward police for questioning.

Confused audience members repeatedly responded, “What?” as they tried to understand the sudden commands.

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Lauren, who was in the theater when officers entered, said the auditorium was packed. “It was scary to see a gun that big right in front of me,” she told NBC Bay Area.

“There were six cops. One of them was pointing a huge gun at the back of the room, and they told the guy in the back right to stand up and put his hands above his head,” Lauren said.

Aditya Gupta, another patron who witnessed the response, said he was shocked when the officers suddenly appeared inside the theater.

“The girl who was sitting on my right, she ducked, and I realized after the fact that I should’ve done the same. I don’t think it registered to me that there was a real officer with a real assault rifle-looking thing,” he told the news outlet.

Lauren and Gupta both left the theater because they feared the situation could escalate into a shootout.

Officers found a person inside the theater who matched the description of the individual reported to have a firearm. However, police did not find a weapon on the person or in the surrounding area, KRON 4 reported.