Shootings Mar ‘Boyz’ Showings

An evening at the movies turned into a harrowing night of violence in Universal City, Upland and Chino as shootings involving suspected gang members marred Friday’s opening of “Boyz N the Hood,” a critically acclaimed film depicting life in South Central Los Angeles.

In the Cineplex Odeon theaters at Universal City, three people were wounded, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Lincoln, in what deputies described as “gang-related” clash at about 10:15 p.m..

“It was horrible. We were terrified,” said British tourist Tanya Basha, 22, who was in the adjacent theater watching the comedy “City Slickers.”

She heard shots, and people ran in screaming from the theater showing “Boyz.” And “We ran out,” she said.

In the lobby, “we saw these guys saying they were going to go get their guns from their car, “ Basha said. “We got the hell out of there.”

Deputies questioned about 200 theatergoers and searched the parking garage as people streamed out of the Cineplex.

In Upland, at least two women and one man were struck by gunfire at a Mann’s theater in the Mountain Green Shopping Center, authorities said. Their conditions were not known.

In the words of an Upland police officer, “pandemonium” ensued when gunfire erupted about 10 p.m. “The only thing I know was the two women were inside the theater. We don’t know where the man was,” said Lt. Rudy Mora.

Free-lance photographer Michael Nadler said that when he arrived “they were trying to get people out of area to cordon it off.”

No arrests had been made late Friday. “But we’ve got some people detained,” Mora added.

In Chino, 16 police officers were sent to a shooting at the Movies Eight complex on Philadelphia Avenue. “Somebody was shot in the leg,” Lt. C.B. Stueland said. The victim’s condition was not known. A possible suspect had been detained.

“Boyz N the Hood,” directed by a young African-American and Los Angeles native, John Singleton, has been praised as the depiction of the difficulties of growing up amid gang pressures. But the film’s release was also greeted by fears that, like such films as “Colors” and “New Jack City,” it would attract gang members.

‘Boyz’ opened Friday night in more than 800 theaters nationwide, but some cinema operators pulled the film because of fears of violence. For example, the film was not shown in Los Angeles’ Westwood district--the scene of previous violence--as advertised earlier.

When “New Jack City” opened in Westwood last March, ticket-holders waiting for hours to see the movie rioted after being turned away.

Times staff writers Andrea Ford and Nieson Himmel contributed to this report.