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New video shows La. theater shooter's last hour

A surveillance tape obtained by CBS News shows John Houser smiling and walking around a Motel 6, hours before he opened fire in a Lafayette theater
Investigators retracing Lafayette theater shooter's last steps 02:32

LAFAYETTE, La. -- A surveillance tape obtained exclusively by CBS News shows 59-year-old John Houser smiling and walking casually around a Motel 6. Houser's Lincoln Town Car pulled out of the motel on Thursday evening at 6:41 p.m.

Sixty minutes later, he opened fire inside The Grand Theater.

Louisiana State Police Supt. Michael Edmonson says investigators are now retracing Houser's steps.

His motel room was strewn with liquor bottles, and notes about showtimes for the movie "Trainwreck." Authorities now believe the gunman had cased other theaters across South Louisiana.

Gov. Bobby Jindal: Lafayette shooting never should have happened 00:02

"Probably Lake Charles, here in Lafayette and in Baton Rouge," said Edmonson. "Disguised in a wig in Baton Rouge because somebody said 'We saw him and we felt so uncomfortable we left.'"

Lead detective Stephen Bajat believes Houser did not plan to kill himself. He showed where the gunman parked his car. There was evidence he had an escape plan.

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John Houser was said to have been quiet and unassuming in a motel, just before the mass shooting at a Louisiana movie theater. CBS News

"The fact that he exited out of that door is where his car was parked," said Bajat. "That he had staged his keys in such a manner that he would've had to dig them out of his pocket."

Bajat said the key was on top of the tire. "He could have just grabbed them and jumped in the car and taken off."

Before Houser turned the gun on himself, he fired 14 shots in just minutes.

Who was the La. movie theater gunman? 02:47

Nicole Zammit Fuseiler, 41, was not hit, but the mother of three ran for her life, covered in the blood of the victims she tried to help.

"When I looked down the barrel, when he was shooting my row, I was like, this is for real," she said.

In a startling coincidence, one of the first EMTs on the scen was Kaitlyn Pettijan, Nicole's younger sister. Kaitlyn saw Nicole but didn't have time to check on her.

Who was the La. movie theater gunman? 02:47

"Like I had a reaction, but like I didn't have an emotion," she said. "Like I just kind of built a wall."

She paused and fought back tears.

"Because I was there for my job and I had one job that I needed to do."

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