Source: CBS/University of Colorado, Denver: James Holmes |
A heavily armed gunman attacked an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater early
Friday, tossing tear gas before opening fire on the terrified audience
and killing 12 and wounding 59, authorities said. The theater was
showing the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
The shooting started inside a darkened theater packed with Batman fans,
some in costume for the movie's premiere. Screaming, panicked
moviegoers scrambled to escape from the black-clad gunman, who wore a
gas mask and randomly shot as he walked up the theater's steps,
witnesses said
The suspect in the shooting rampage has been identified as James Holmes, 24, described by law enforcement sources as a loner. Holmes is a PhD student who recently withdrew from his neuroscience studies at the University of Colorado.There was no immediate word of any motive.
Police say Holmes,
dressed head-to-toe in protective tactical gear, set off two devices of
some kind before spraying the theater with bullets from an AR-15 rifle, a
12-gauge shotgun and at least one of two .40-caliber handguns police
recovered at the scene.
Police arrested the man shortly after the shooting ended in a rear parking lot of the theater, "He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," a police spokesman said.
More than 20 SWAT team members were gingerly searching
Holmes’ apartment on Paris Street, a process that could take hours or even days because the apartment appeared to be booby-trapped with explosives,
Aurora police Chief Dan Oates told reporters.
Holmes is scheduled to appear in an Arapahoe County, Colorado, courtroom
on Monday morning, Rob McCallum, spokesman for the Colorado Judicial
Department, said Friday. The court file was sealed, according to a court
order. Source: cnn
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