Armed suspect shot in US movie theater

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - US police shot an armed suspect as he brandished a gun in a San Diego movie theater, where he had taken refuge while trying to evade arrest, a spokesman said Sunday.

Wielding a handgun, the 20-year-old fled after allegedly attacking his girlfriend in a California shopping mall parking lot Saturday, and was eventually tracked down to a nearby multiplex cinema.

Theater-goers were evacuated from a number of screening rooms as officers searched the building, before one located him sitting with other patrons watching "Les Miserables," reports said.

"As the officer approached the suspect, the officer gave the suspect verbal commands to determine if he was armed," said San Diego Police Department spokesman Ernie Herbert.