Yellow crime scene tape began to unravel just after 8 p.m. Thursday as bystanders cleared and made way for droves of law enforcement vehicles roaring into the Grand 16 Theater parking lot.

But a few of the 100 people who fled after gunfire exploded inside one theater Thursday evening lingered outside. One woman sat motionless in the grass under a tree and stared at the building’s entryway.

“I’m just praying for all the people inside and their families,” she said softly. She said she was in a separate theater but heard the echo of gunshots and saw the panic that followed.

“God will make sure they will be all right. He’s going to take care of them,” she said.

Armored SWAT patrol carrying military rifles paced around the theater’s doorways. Officers continued to block the entrance and clear the parking lot as the sun set. An evening, summer breeze blew across the paved lot usually bustling with families and couples.

Nearby, a man sat, slumped forward on the sidewalk. He spoke hesitantly.

“There was so much blood,” he whispered. Another man who introduced himself only as an off-duty firefighter, came to visibly shaken man’s aid and called him a hero. He claimed the man helped carry a female victim out of the theater and “dug a bullet out of her leg.”

The man leaned forward and began to heave. “What’s wrong with people, man?” he said.

Bystanders continued to trickle out of nearby apartment complexes and businesses and crowded the streets parallel to the theater. Rumors of four suspicious people, including a woman with pink hair, walking in and out of theaters began to spread.

Some weren’t even aware that bodies were still inside the theater or there had even been a shooting.

“Is the theater going to be closed for the rest of night?” one woman asked as she walked with her friend toward the blocked entrance on Doucet Road.

Many bystanders were on their phones with loved ones panicked about their safety. Even upon learning that at least two people were killed by gunfire inside one of the theaters, politics was on the minds of some.

“Are y’all writing an article about this?” one man who looked to be in his mid-20s asked a small group of reporters. Then he defended the right to be armed. . “This would have never have happened if we all carried.”