TikTok star Anthony Barajas on life support after SoCal theater shooting; suspect arrested

CORONA, Calif. — TikTok star Anthony Barajas is hospitalized on life support, and a suspect is in custody after a Monday shooting at a Southern California movie theater left one dead.

Nineteen-year-old Barajas was one of two gunshot victims in the shooting, and his friend, 18-year-old Rylee Goodrich, did not survive, KNBC reported.

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Joseph Jimenez, 20, of Corona was arrested Tuesday night at his Corona home, where authorities found a firearm - among other evidence - that matched the caliber of the weapon used in the theater shooting, officials with the Corona Police Department confirmed to KTLA.

According to police, Barajas and Goodrich were two of only six ticketholders for the 9:30 p.m. screening of “The Forever Purge,” during which Jimenez is accused of opening fire. “The Purge” franchise explores a world in which the government authorizes a 12-hour window of time during which all crime, including murder, is legal, KNBC reported.

Investigators do not believe that either Barajas or Goodrich, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had any prior contact with the suspected shooter, and their conditions were not discovered until employees entered the theater to clean after the screening ended, KTLA reported.

“We do not have a motive for this heinous, unprovoked crime,” Corona police Cpl. Tobias Kouroubacalis said during a Wednesday news conference.

Barajas remained in critical condition Wednesday, and Kouroubacalis confirmed to the TV station that the theater’s cameras were not recording during the shooting and that investigators remain unclear as to why no one heard the deadly assault.

Jimenez, who is being held on $2 million bail, faces murder, attempted murder and robbery charges, KNBC reported.

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