Moviegoer shot to death for eating popcorn too loudly

RIGA - A man fatally shot another man at a Latvian cinema as the credits rolled on the Oscar-nominated film Black Swan, police in the Baltic state said Sunday, reportedly in a dispute over popcorn.

Police said they had arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of shooting a 42-year-old fellow moviegoer who later died of his wounds.

The conflict arose over how loudly the deceased man was eating his popcorn, witnesses told the Latvian news agency Leta. The suspect had a gun licence, news agencies reported.

Gun violence is relatively rare in Latvia, a European Union nation of 2.2 million. The shooting occurred on Saturday evening in the central multiplex cinema in the Latvian capital, Riga, at the end of the psychological thriller about a ballet dancer who loses her mind succumbing to pressure to perform.

Read more: Montreal Gazette