Man attacked a Nashville screening of Mad Max armed with a pellet gun and a hatchet

This is the man who attacked a Nashville screening of Mad Max armed with a pellet gun and a hatchet before being shot dead by a SWAT team.

Police released an image of Vincente David Montano, 29, who was holding an Airsoft replica pistol when he attacked a mostly empty screening at the Carmike Hickory 8 theater around 1pm Wednesday.

Officers say he let off huge amounts of red-tinted tear gas and slashed a man with his axe.

Montano, who was wearing a surgical mask in the attack, was shot dead when he tried to leave via a back entrance.

Terrified moviegoers thought Montano's gun was real, and called in police, one of whom reportedly had a brief firefight with him.

Moments later he is said to have tried to escape the theater, where he was gunned down by a SWAT team just outside an emergency exit.

Officers said Montao was wearing two backpacks during the attack, one of which had a replica bomb inside - which disposal experts destroyed.

Police later revealed that Montano had a history of mental illness, including paranoid schizophrenia, and had been committed four times.

A spokesman for the Nashville Metro Police Department said he suffered 'significant psychiatric or psychological issues' and had been arrested in 2004 for assault and resisting arrest.

Police said that Montano's mother, Denise Pruit, filed a missing persons report with Texas rangers two days ago. She hadn't seen Montano in person since 2013. 

Montano is thought to have cut one man's shoulder with his axe, and doused two women in pepper spray during the screening, which was attended by just eight people including the attacker.

Terrified guests ran out of the screening and alerted police, who dealt with Montano until a SWAT team arrived and shot him dead.