Man Disrupts Matinee, Cursing at Patrons Who Then Fled

Anne Arundel County Police arrested a man on Wednesday for disrupting a movie at the Bow Tie Cinema in the Annapolis Harbour Center. Police said the man disrupted the movie by shouting and cursing at the screen and at movie goers. According to a media release from police spokesman Justin Mulcahy, the man left the theater twice and returned. The second time he came back, he began pointing and cursing at patrons, indicating he had a gun. People in the movie theater fled and contacted police.

Kyle Tanner

In the incident in Annapolis, there were no injuries reported.

In an eerily similar episode on July 20 of this year, 12 people were killed and 58 injured when a man shot at movie goers inside a theater during a showing of the latest Batman installment in Aurora, Colorado. There are no connections between the two incidents, but for patrons at the Bow Tie cinemas on Wednesday, the episode must have been frightening and reminiscent of the most recent mass shooting tragedy.

Police gave no indication of what movie was showing at the time, but “Batman,the Dark Knight Rises“ is not playing at that theater.

The incident began around 3:47 p.m. when officers from Southern District responded to a disorderly conduct report at the movie theater. By the time they arrived, the man, later identified as Kyle Tanner, 25, had fled, running toward Route 2 northbound.

Police said that they found Tanner in the area of Old Solomons Island Road at Forest Drive in Annapolis.

Tanner has a case history of domestic violence dating to 2006 along with two protection orders barring him from contacting two separate people, one in 2006 and one in 2010.

Tanner was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and second degree assault. He is being held at Jennifer Road Detention Center. His bail status will be reviewed on Thursday. The police department is continuing to consult with the States Attorney’s Office to determine the appropriateness of the charges.

Tanner currently has no fixed address. In 2006, he was living in the Hillsmere area of Annapolis.