Many of those alarmed doors in theatres either don’t work due to lack of maintenance, are already disabled by earlier arriving patrons, are easily rigged around with a magnet or are just for show.
Sounds like run down theaters - in a run down section.
I thought this one is sorta new. All I ever witnessed is everyone enters and leaves through the front doors and the exit doors by law are lit by signs for emergency use only and are rigged with alarms.
You open one and an alarm blares away and the perpetrator will be caught. And the alarm goes right to the fire department which notifies the police. That alarm going off indicates a fire or such/an emergency. It’s all for the safety of the patrons.
The fire department doesn’t inspect those doors to make sure they work for the safety of those inside in case of a fire?
They do it for restaurants, offices, etc. - most public places to make sure they are up to snuff for safety purposes and if not, the establishments will be fined. An exit door can never be locked from the inside or anything interfering with safe passage out.
The killer could never have carried out his plan if there was an alarm on the exit door. Watch for some changes to that lax system!