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Police searching for man who threatened violence and smashed up movie theater

Police are asking for your help in their search for a man who they say threatened people and damaged a movie theater with a hammer in Bremerton on Sunday night.

The incident happened at about 9:45 p.m. at the SeeFilm movie theater downtown.

The theater’s general manager, Julie Stitt, says the man was watching “The Bad Samaritan,” didn’t like it, then switched to watching “A Quiet Place.” But he wouldn’t stop talking.

“A couple of other customers decided to help him out and he got a little irate at that,” Stitt said.

Police said that, as the man left the theater, he threatened to kill patrons and movie theater employees.

The man then took a hammer out of his bag and smashed  a large pane of glass in front of the theater at the box office.

“It’s the society we live in now, it can happen anywhere. It happens at schools, it happens grocery stores, it can happen anywhere,” Stitt said.

The man fled the scene and remains at large.

On 05/06/2018 the depicted unidentified white male attended several movies at the SeeFilm movie theater in downtown...

Posted by Bremerton Police Department on Monday, May 7, 2018

“It could’ve been worse. I’m just grateful nobody was hurt,” Stitt said.

Police described the man as being white, in his 40s, about 6 feet tall, with a beard, wearing a red windbreaker and shorts and carrying a dark-colored gym bag. They believe he may have a laceration from the broken window and will have a noticeable wound.

The man may also be in the military or a military veteran, as he gave a military ID when he entered the theater.

Damage was estimated at $4,000.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Marty Garland at 360-473-5488.

Stitt says the theater has a lot of new employees with summer coming up. And she will be adding training to help keep everyone safe.

“Making sure everybody is understanding. It’s hard with young kids they don’t ever think anything bad is going to happen to them, so it’s a wakeup call for a lot of people,” she said.

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