Who is Anthony Barajas? TikTok star injured, friend dead in mysterious shooting in LA theater
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A screening of the latest installment of 'The Purge' franchise turned into a nightmare after a woman was found dead, and her TikTok star friend left critically injured. Police said the incident happened while the victims were watching the newest film of the dystopian slasher horror titled 'The Forever Purge' in a California movie theater on the night of Monday, July 26. The woman, identified as Rylee Goodrich, 18, died from the shooting, which allegedly nobody inside the theatre heard. Goodrich's friend, who was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, has been identified as Anthony Barajas, a popular personality on TikTok.
News of the shooting comes months after the harrowing shooting outside a Times Square theatre that left three injured including a four-year-old girl. Just weeks ago, a man was shot dead by cops after pointing a fake gun at them, just outside the Hollywood Walk of Fame. California boy Aiden Leos was also fatally shot in cold-blooded murder in a case of road rage not all that long ago. But in Goodrich and Barajas's case, police haven't been able to identify who shot them or the motive behind the shootings.
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Who is Anthony Barajas?
The 19-year-old TikTok celebrity is currently on life support after being shot at while watching the 9:30 pm screening of the horror movie at the Regal Edwards Corona Crossings movie theater. Barajas, who goes by the username @itsanthonymichael on TikTok, has almost a million followers on the platform, and some 34.3 million likes as well. On Instagram, Barajas brags of a solid 41,700 followers, and is quite popular for his shirtless selfies and dimpled smile.
The TikTok star and his friend Goodrich were discovered by staff who were cleaning up after the movie ended. “During the actual movie time, no one apparently heard the gunshot,” employee Kailyn Dillon told local newspaper KCAL. “I know that we do have security bag checks that we do on the daily and, unfortunately, I’m not sure if just was missed or if it was in a holster on their belt.”
Who shot Barajas and Goodrich?
Investigators are reportedly still looking into the shooting and are not sure whether the killer escaped the theatre or whether the shooting was a case of murder suicide. Cops said there were only six people watching the film at the time of the shooting. Corona Police Department Cpl Tobias Kouroubacalis told local CBS outlet: "At some point, the employee or employees walk inside the theater to conduct their clean-up or walk through and that’s when the 911 call was placed. [They said] that there was an unknown problem, somebody was bleeding, there wasn’t very specific information given."
Kouroubacalis added: “We don’t have any suspect information right now. We have no information to lead us to believe there is an active threat to our community or any surrounding community right now." He also told KCAL that cops weren't able to discover any firearms at the scene. "They’re still going through the theater and looking for evidence that would send us in one direction or another," he told the paper, adding: "We’re working in the blind." ”Detectives are conducting follow up on all investigative leads with hopes of identifying the person(s) responsible for this heinous crime,” police said.