COLUMBUS – A man who started a near-stampede inside a movie theater over the weekend will face a charge of causing a panic.
Benjamin Pendleton walked into the Easton Town Center AMC movie theater just before 9:00 p.m. Saturday — near the end of the movie Suicide Squad — and began screaming obscenities, Columbus Division of Police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua said.
He then reached into a bag, which sent theatergoers racing for the exits and leaving some with minor injuries.
Contrary to earlier reports, Fuqua said no shots were fired and in fact no weapon of any kind was involved.
“There was no gun, no weapon, no knife, so there was absolutely no weapon whatsoever,” Fuqua said Sunday.
Pendelton was taken into custody and was in the Franklin County Jail.