A photograph of John Russell Houser, who authorities identified as the gunman in a July 23, 2015 shooting at a Louisiana movie theater.

Craft said Houser parked his car near the theater's exit door and was intent on escaping, but couldn't because police arrived so quickly. Authorities have not determined a motive. They searched a motel room he had been staying in and found wigs and other disguises.

Craft said the initial call came in at 7:30 p.m. and that in less than a minute, officers were at the theater.

“The shooter is deceased. We may never know,” Craft said. “We don’t know if this was just a random act or whether it was a domestic situation.”

There were about 100 people in the theater at the time of the shooting, said Col. Mike Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police.

He added that police saw something suspicious inside the shooter's car and that a bomb-sniffing dog “hit on three different locations” in the vehicle, “so out of an abundance of caution we brought in the bomb squad.”

Henry said eight people were brought to the hospital by ambulance. One arrived by private party, according to the local newspaper, The Advertiser.

On Friday officials said the investigation led a dozen law enforcement personnel to a Motel 6 in Lafayette where they found a room littered with wigs and disguises.

While little is known of Houser, court documents show that his estranged wife and other family members asked for a temporary protective order in 2008 against the Alabama native.

The documents seeking the order said Houser "exhibited extreme erratic behavior and has made ominous as well as disturbing statements."

Houser "has a history of mental health issues, i.e., manic depression and/or bi-polar disorder," the filing said. It also stated that he had "perpetrated various acts of family violence," and as a result his wife "removed all guns and/or weapons from their marital residence."

The sheriff of Russell County, Alabama revealed that Houser sought a concealed carry permit in 2006, but had his application rejected because of his troubled past, the New York Times reported on Friday. Alabama state law does not require citizens to obtain a permit before purchasing a gun; only to carry one in public.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said in a blog post on Friday that it had uncovered various social media posts from Houser espousing white supremacist and conspiratorial views.

"Hitler is loved for the results of his pragmatism," Houser allegedly wrote on one of his social media accounts, according to SPLC. "There is no question of his being the most successful that ever lived."

SPLC also cited various other instances in which online accounts believed to belong to Houser expressed sympathy for the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, the Greek nationalist party Golden Dawn, and other far-right groups.