When a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, a couple who recently moved to Colorado from East Tennessee happened to be inside that Aurora theater. The husband was shot, but is expected to recover.
Heather and Lucas Smith were married in Knoxville in April, according to Heather's sister, Kendall Levy. Heather was a teacher at South Doyle High School. She resigned in June so the couple could start their life together in Colorado Springs, about an hour from where the shooting happened. Lucas got a job transfer there with Aspen Roofing. He graduated from Johnson University in south Knoxville in 2008
Levy says her sister and brother-in-law were sitting in the middle of the movie theater when the suspect threw the first can of tear gas into the audience and started shooting. Lucas took a rifle shot to the hip, leaving 8 buckshots in his upper leg. Heather was not shot, but witnessed the carnage.
She posted this Facebook message on Friday about Lucas' condition: "Everything is in working order. This was a total blessing for how every bullet positioned itself. The doctor decided to not take out the 8 bullets. We are truly living a miracle. If Lucas had not been standing when he was shot, it would have gone in his chest."
Johnson University Administrator Phillip Eubanks says the entire school is praying for the Smith's.
"Turning to god is exactly what Heather and Lucas Smith are doing as they begin to heal, not only physically but emotionally," said Eubanks.
Lucas Smith could be released from the hospital by Friday night.
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Johnson University in South Knoxville confirms a former student was among those injured in the shooting at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.
Friends and family members on Facebook say Lucas Smith was shot eight times while at the movie theater seeing "The Dark Knight Rises."
Posts on his account and his wife's account say he was shot in the thigh and hip, but will recover.
Smith graduated from Johnson University in 2008. Reports say his wife, Heather Wolfe Smith, was not shot.
Stay with 10News with the latest and more updates on their conditions.