1 killed, 1 wounded in shooting at Corona movie theater during showing of ‘Purge’ sequel
By Rob McMillan, Alex Cheney and ABC7.com staff
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CORONA, California (KABC) — An 18-year-old woman is dead and a 19-year-old man is on life support after a shooting at a Corona movie theater during a showing of “The Forever Purge.”
The shooting happened just before midnight at the Regal Edwards Corona Crossings during a showing of the film.
The woman who died has been identified as Rylee Goodrich, 18, of Corona. The man who was wounded was identified as Anthony Barajas, 19, of Corona. He was transported to a local hospital and was on life support, police said. The two were together inside the theater seeing a 9:35 p.m. showing of the film when they were shot.
“Officers arrived on scene, they located two people down suffering from gunshot wounds inside the theater,” said Officer Tobias Kouroubacalis of the Corona Police Department.
But exactly what happened inside the theater is still a mystery because it’s not believed that many people were inside when it all went down.
“I’m being told right now there were six tickets purchased for that movie showing,” said Kouroubacalis.
Was the shooting random? Was it a domestic dispute? Considering how loud the movie is at times, were there even any witnesses? Police say they don’t know, although they did confirm that no weapon was found at the scene.
“We’re asking for anyone who might have been inside that movie, or a theater adjacent to that, for any information at all, whether they saw something or heard something, or anybody out in the parking lot in that time frame who may have seen something or heard something, please call us,” Kouroubacalis said.
Goodrich attended Corona High and played volleyball, ran track and was also a cheerleader. She was given a scholarship to Grand Canyon University in its STEM program. She was home for the summer visiting family in Corona and had recently started an eyelash business.
Goodrich’s cousin Ashley Cole described her loved one as someone with a “great heart” and motivated to help others, including her family and younger sister.
Barajas was a standout soccer player at Mater Dei High. He has many followers on his social media pages, with more than 40,000 followers on his Instagram and more than 920,000 followers on TikTok.
“It’s a mystery that I hope people can come forth and talk about and report, so that we can get to the bottom of it,” Cole said. “There needs to be justice.”
Investigators were at the scene for over 12 hours, asking people to avoid the area. There’s no word on a motive or any suspects. The movie theater remains closed.
Anyone who was in the theater or in the general area between 9 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. Monday, or anyone who may have information, is asked to contact the Corona Police Department – Senior Detective Slaven Neagu at (951)739-4916 or email Slaven.Neagu@CoronaCA.gov. Anonymous tips can be provided at (951)817-5839.
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