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12 Dead, 59 Injured In Colorado Theater Shooting, Suspect Named
July 20, 2012
Police in Colorado say 12 people were shot to death and at least 59 wounded in a shooting at a movie theater the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Authorities say the midnight premier of “The Dark Knight Rises,” the latest Batman movie, had just begun at the Century 16 theater in the city of Aurora, when a masked man dressed in black and wearing a bulletproof vest faced the packed crowd from the front of the theater. They say he set off canisters spewing an irritant and smoke and then started randomly shooting. Witnesses say he fatally shot an infant at point-blank range.
Police say they arrested the shooter a short time later in the parking lot outside the theater, and recovered an assault rifle, a shotgun, a handgun and a gas mask.
Booby-trapped apartment
Hours after the incident unfolded Friday in the darkened movie theater, police said they found the gunman’s apartment residence “booby-trapped” with explosives and chemical devices. They evacuated nearby residents.
Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as James Holmes, a 24-year-old American who was in the process of dropping out as a neuroscience graduate student at a nearby university. They said there was no indication the shooting was tied to any terrorist group.
Lone shooter
The movie theater attack was the worst mass shooting in the United States since 2009 when an Army psychiatrist killed 13 soldiers and civilians at a military base in Texas.
Aurora Chief of Police Daniel Oates told a news conference police are “confident” that only one man was involved, contrary to initial reports that there may have been an accomplice.
The police chief said the suspect told investigators he had multiple explosives at his residence in a North Aurora apartment building, and investigators later found the apartment booby-trapped with flammable and explosive materials. Residents at five nearby buildings were ordered out of their residences as authorities sought to disarm the dangerous site.
“The suspect who’s in custody, made statements about possible explosives in possession of his residence. At this time, there is a residence in North Aurora — its an apartment apartment building — that we have evacuated and we are dealing with as potentially there are explosives inside there,” Oates stated. “We’re also concerned about explosives in the parking lot, hence the parking lot is completely sealed off. We have all the area bomb squad teams.”
Eye witness account
Jaime Marshall, a theater patron, described a chaotic scene in the moments after the shooting, and said she saw a girl with a bullet wound in her leg.
“So we went up those stairs and we looked to the wall, to the side of the theatre where we heard the sounds from and there were bullet holes and so that’s when we started screaming for all our friends just to get out,” she recalled. “We went up the stairs and we were looking over the lobby and police were out there. There was one officer in a gas mask holding a huge rifle and they were just waving people, trying to get people through the lobby as fast as possible so we ran down the stairs, we ran out of the theatre. We walked out, I saw a girl with a bullet in her leg.”
Obama, Romney react
President Barack Obama, abandoning a planned re-election campaign rally in Florida, called on Americans to support the victims of the carnage. He said “such violence, such evil is senseless” and that the nation is “heartbroken.”
Obama said the mass shooting was inexplicable.
“We may never understand what leads anybody to terrorize their fellow human beings like this,” the president said.
Obama’s Republican presidential challenger, Mitt Romney, said he and his wife Ann were “deeply saddened” by the shooting, which he called “senseless violence.”
[VOA]
Pictured: A witness Twitter photo from the shooting scene at the Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
41 Responses to “12 Dead, 59 Injured In Colorado Theater Shooting, Suspect Named”
REGARDING:
“why the United States is the country leading in the world in violent crimes? ”
Mainly becasue we have more diversity. Nothing wrong with diversity, but it tends to cause friction between the different groups and that friction can lead to violence. Too many people look at people who look and act differently and think they must not be real people, therefore they don’t have to treat them decently.
Also, remember the people who came to this country couldn’t get along with their neighbors or government back home. (Many had bad neighbors or bad governments, but they refused to bow down to them.). People who won’t accept being mistreated often respond with violence. Even good people like me and thee.
David for brotherly love
even among brothers
REGARDING:
“Look what happened to Sodom and Gamorrah.”
If the Lord could have found ten righteous people in Sodom, the city would still be there today. I know more than that in Bluff Springs alone.
David for consolation
First, my condolences and sympathies to those affected in Aurora, CO and elsewhere. I’ve been to Aurora several times and it is a nice place. Sorry this happened to you nice folks.
My question is why the United States is the country leading in the world in violent crimes? We have more people in prison than similar countries with gun ownership and dynamics. More people commit violent crimes in the US than anywhere else. The youth of other similar countries to the US watch the same TV and listen to the same music/video games, have legal access to firearms etc., but they do not go out and kill others. It’s just US Citizens. Why?
Exactly David, As I said in my previous comment, I have no worries about this tragedy causing mass gun control. I agree that assault rifles should be made illegal and are made for the military. I owns several shotguns and rifles and have no fears of losing any of them. I believe that Bamaboy’s comment that “he heard a preacher say that America has told God to go to hell”, is a description of the morals of a large portion of our society. Look what happened to Sodom and Gamorrah.
REGARDING:
“Regarding David, no one knows whether or not this man was insane. As an American and a Christian I communicate with the several times a day.”
Exactly. Individuals can pray but the nation doesn’t have an ambassador to speak for it — unless you believe the Pope speaks for God and I DO think we have an ambassador to the Vatican. I’m not sure why, but I think we do.
AND
“The majority on here are blaming the gun laws, but that will probably never happen in this country, due to the power of NRA in our government’s back pocket. At least we can make the military assault weapons against the law again. They are built for war, not civilians.”
We have one major gun law. It is that the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Until we take away that civil right, all lesser gun laws are unconstitutional.
The Second Amendment is not about hunting but about self protection from criminals, nut-jobs, invaders or even an out-of-control nation.
The fact that people would ban shotguns such as was used shows people aren’t thinking clearly in such a tragedy. It’s also the reason the National Rifle Association has so many supporters. They join in response to demands to take away their rights.
Murdering people is already illegal.
Criminals don’t care what the law says.
David for better people
and comfort to the grieving
Regarding David, no one knows whether or not this man was insane. As an American and a Christian I communicate with the several times a day.
Regarding Bob, I am a gun owner and d not have any worries that this is going to cause mass gun control.
My opinion is that the largest contributor to tragedies like this one in our country is a lack of consequences. The facts remain that the suspect will be given an attorney or very possibly some lawyer who wants to make a name for himself will take on this case and manipulate justice to the extent that the suspect gets totally off, or is evaluated by a mental health Dr. and institutionalized in a hospital where he will be kept drugged and sleep most of his sentence, If that does not happen he will be sensationalized and placed in a prison for awhile, where he will be held in protective management because even the scum will want to kill him. While in prison the guards will be required to treat the animal with respect or risk losing their jobs or getting sued for a civil rights violation. At the worst the animal will be given the death penalty and sit on death row for many many years and probably die of natural causes. All of these things are a possibility.
This is a sad story and my heart goes out to the families that where effected by this tradgic advent. My prayers are with your families and of the families of the people who had to watch as this man did what he did to innocent people.if that is his picture posted in this story he surely does not have any remorse for what he has done and there should not be any remorse on his pun.ishment either. For him to stand there and shoot people is not right and for him to shoot a baby point blank that is damn sure wrong .he should be lined up and him shot. To death like he did to his victims. And he should not have the satifaction of living his life in prison on death row where tax payers has to feed and house him til him dies. He needs to be put to death asap.my prayers go out to all families and friends involved with this tragic day .
When we run this 24/7 and in the media we are giving this idiot what he wants……………..free attention and press……………………….this is why he did it to begin with.
A very sad & horrible day yet again in America. There are many questions @ the why & the how of such a senseless event. The majority on here are blaming the gun laws, but that will probably never happen in this country, due to the power of NRA in our government’s back pocket. At least we can make the military assault weapons against the law again. They are built for war, not civilians. Stop making the bullets for them & eventually they will not be as prevalent. The incidents @ Columbine, Virginia Tech & now the movie theater were all committed by young, educated, & seemingly well off males. The answer may lie in the lack of mental health services, the increase of violent, bloodfest movies & video games. They seem to make the youth de-sensitized to violence/murder. The age limit on these games are not usually adhered to…or they are purchased by the parents. Or as a last thought, maybe the youth of this country have become so isolated from friends/family by the use of the internet that they just lack any compassion for their fellow human beings. We will never really know. It’s interesting that his mother responded with the statement..”You’ve got the right person”..before the police could finish questioning her. It leads me to think she knew that her son had some psychological issues. And his friend made the statement that James always rooted for the villain in these type of movies. And now he is the REAL villain.
I am a resident here in Colorado and live just miles from where this took place. I have a very old friend whom was among the 71 that were shot. he had surgery early yesterday morning. I was supposed to go to this as well but wasn’t feeling great and gave up my ticket. I am a un supporter and carry my own. This inciden had NOTHING o do with guns….”guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Even If the 100 people there had gun, this man was fully protected from head to do with complete bullet-proof ballistics. And , to correct some mistakes, this man was a normal student at the U of Colorado, Denver campus. He was in a PhD program and recently had sub- standard grades and was in the process of dropping up.
The people of this area are in a complete daze and stage of shock. Just sort of wondering around, confused and still hard to believe this is real. I have a family member who is employed at University Hospital, where the majority of critical people are. One of the 2 that died in hosptal, died on her watch. And 2 other deceased were active armed forces service members. it’s very hard to absorb…Coloradans are “rugged” and together we’ll make it through this though. Please continue to pray fr ALL involved.
The shooter was wearing protective gear–a bullet proof vest, neck guard, gas mask, etc. I’m not sure it would’ve helped much if any of the people there did have a gun. It seems he came pretty well prepared…
I absolutely support our right to bear arms but saying “if only someone was carrying” is no different than saying, if only the shooter wasn’t carrying.
I agree with Tina. This is getting rediculas. It is so stupid for people thinking, shooting people will make them fill good about themselves.
This is so sad. My heart and prayers go out to the families and the community. All they wanted was to go to a movie. I guess there is a very fine line between genius and insanity. (And yes, it is the owner, not the gun that is the bad guy here).
Just CHOOT ‘EM !!!! It’s a sad day in America, & I’m sad that piece of crap’s still breathin.
So So SAD
It absolutely breaks my heart to know that I have grandchildren growing up in this cruel world., and when they become older, God only knows what it will be like then.
I know people don’t want to hear this, but I pray that this old world comes to an end before it get’s much worse.
REGARDING:
“This was not a crazy guy; he was working on his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Denver.”
crazy/sane are not directly related to stupid/smart
David for comfort
CONSIDERING:
“99.9999% of us who are responsible gun owners”
Assume 300,000,000 Americans.
Assume ALL are armed with guns.
That would only leave 300 irresponsible gun owners.
I think the number is higher than that.
Other than that, I agree many blame the tool rather than the tool user. If the accursed soul is using explosives, poison gas and shotguns, there is very little hope of stopping him before he acts.
Right now, about all we can do is mourn those murdered and injured.
David for solace
REGARDING:
“I heard one preacher say America has told God to go to Hell”
America has had no official communications with The Lord, nor could it.
Further, Hellbound people have been doing evil all along.
Only the specifics vary.
This was a sad event.
David considering individual decisions
Patriot… You remind me of some of my old combat comm buddies. When shots were fired, they just wanted to return fire – who cares if we knew where the shots came from… lets just start shooting. Responsible gun owners know when to fire and most have a good idea where they’re shooting. In this case, “controlled aggression” may have helped, but if everyone in the dark theater had a weapon and the same idea I bet a lot more people would have died. This lunatic would have attempted to pull this off even if he knew everyone in the theater was armed.
Do not understand to people today. We lived just a few blocks from Aurora Mall, in Aurora, Colorado, back in the mid 90’s, and know this place well. This was not a crazy guy; he was working on his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Denver.
This was a very planned event, setting traps at his apartment, but someone has it right, he will most likely get off on some mental defense. It should be allowable for police to shot individuals like this, and then we would not have to deal with them any longer. If you are caught, confessed that you have committed the crime, a bullet in the head should have been his justice there in the parking lot.
Don’t you people understand that by plastering this maniac’s name and face all over that you are in effect perpetuating inccidents like this if lunatics know that they can become famous at the cost of a few random peoples lives and there own, travesties like this will continue to happen people who commit these crimes should never be named In the media they should all just be ” a random gunman”
@Doug,
So, because it may be dangerous to take aggressive action needed to survive, I should just lay in the floor and what…. Hope? Pray?
No thanks.
This is a horrible act by a lone madman, let us please not start the gun control debate, let us pray for the survivors and the people who lost family.
By the way, I agree, if you do NOT have a clear target, even if you know what that target is, you do NOT shoot. (first rule of gun ownership ) . No, he had it planned out, and knew the tactical advantage he would have. He even had on a bullet proof vest. So I guess he was prepare for a C.C. Nope the only way to take him out , would be tackle him and use a knife. But this is mass kaos , a gun is not always the correct answer . But you can not predict what a psycho ( good word ) will do. But , with a country that seems so bent ( well some of it) on going against God, we sure call him up when it hits the fan. Well we can not have it both ways. You are either for him , or against him. Our choice. Pray for those who have loss, and this nation.
We can all imagine different scenarios to support our thoughts,but if one person who wasn’t effected immediatly by the smoke,ONE PERSON that had a weapon could have saved several lives. You can’t deny this. And on another note ,does anyone think he looks like the guy who won American Idol?
You are correct CW, as we who own guns( and know how and when to use them) it would be hard to focus on the target, ( Gun owners know you must have a clear target , before firing. ) This is just a tragic event. When you hunt, you never worry about some one going rouge, never think about it. Have always felt safe around people with guns. Well as bad as this is, I will not support any move by any one for more so called ( gun control). It was a gun free zone. That worked out well , did it not? Bad people do not obey the law.
Patriot…. I could see you taking out the shooter and two or three other people, then getting popped by the cops while jumping up and down celebrating your “right to live (and die) freely”.
Bob… This isn’t about gun control and it is best to ignore those who try to make an anti-gun argument based on this incident. This guy is a complete psycho, and it would have been difficult to get a shot on him considering the circumstances (smoke, people running everywhere, dark theater, etc). Even if half the theater was “packing”, I’d bet almost as many people would have died one way or another.
@CW,
It would have been MORE difficult to huddle on the floor, trying to remember who said, “a coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man dies but once”, and waiting for this nutcase to run out of ammo.
No one is trying to mandate concealed carry, but just because you think it would be “very difficult”, don’t deny me my right to live freely.
Im all for CW permits etc, but when people come on here posting as if it is the OK Coral you make the case for the other side. Last thing anyone needed was a groupf of folks having a shoot out in a dark, tear gas filled movie theater. The death toll would be in the 50 to 70 range and 12 is bad enough!
@ Smokey
If the theater was dark, it would have been very difficult for someone with CC to shoot the suspect, especially since he was wearing all black and released tear gas. I doubt anyone could really see what was happening.
This is so very sad, but he went rouge, no one can stop a mad man when he is hail bent on doing it. I am sorry for all the loss. But there is going to be a uproar about guns now, never mind 99.9999% of us who are responsible gun owners, But they are sure going to try to make a point about this. But we must not let them, this is more of a terrorist style than any thing else. It is not a political statement, it is not left or right issue, this is some one who just went off his rocker and meant do do evil. Please pray for the families, our rights , and this nation. we need it badly.
Well…..as I heard on preacher say America has told God to go to Hell. And this is the results of that and more to come
Simon properties, who owns the mall this theater is in prohibits concealed carry – which is why I don’t patronize this mall. Sad. Sad. Sad.
What upsets me the most is these people that commit these crimes seem to have less legal repercussions than a person that carries legally and ends up saving lives. We get put through the ringer and they get a “insanity” case.
I agree with smokey 1000%…………………..40 cal.
You are right Smokey , very sad this happen, but bad people do very bad things, The Boy Scouts have it Right, (Always be prepared) I can already hear the anti-gunners, they will have a field day with this.
Another GOOD reason why everyone should carry.There would have been alot less deaths if a couple of those folks had weapons. We can’t have police and military standing around guarding us or it wouldn’t be America. And people like this will always find a way to get a weapon even if they were all outlawed.So join the NRA and vote and buy you a gun.
A sad day for Colorado indeed and for our nation.More than likely our tax dollars will pay for this maniacs defense,and we will probably spend thousands on his incarceration and even more on opportunities for him to have access to books and classes to “better” himself.Too bad he didn’t try to get away,maybe then some deputy could have spared us the disgrace of having to treat him better than some of our people live.
Awful! People aren’t safe anywhere, anymore. Another sad day in America.