This is so tragic, and impossible for me and 99.9% os us to even imagine what state of mind a person has to be in to do something like this. Pray for the victims and their families, and for the family of the shooter as no family raises their child to commit crimes like this. And pray for the shooter to, God knows he needs it, and compassion and forgiveness is a teaching of Jesus Christ, who forgave those who crucified him. UPDATE: For the best commentary I have heard and read in this tragedy see my post Sermon about Mary Magdalen, the massacre in our town, and defiant alleluias 22JUL12 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/sermon-about-mary-magdalen-masacre-in.html
Law enforcement authorities identified the alleged gunman as James Holmes, 24, and said he was taken into custody in a parking lot behind the Century 16 theater after the attack.
The shooter was identified by two federal law enforcement officers as James Holmes, 24, of Aurora.
Aurora, Colorado
Location of theater shooting
More on this story
LIVE BLOG: Aurora, Colo., shooting
Live video, updates, reactions on the mass shooting at a screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’
At least a dozen killed in Colo. shooting
PHOTOS | Dozens more are injured after a gunman released fumes
from a canister and opened fire during the Batman movie, police say.
Investigators said they believe the gunman acted alone and was armed with a shotgun, a rifle and two handguns during the attack. He offered no resistance when he was arrested, police said.
Investigators recovered one rifle, a handgun and the gas mask.
Witnesses said they were at first uncertain whether the action was connected to the movie. As people collapsed and the gunfire continued, however, they realized the attack was real.
Chandler Brannon, 25, who had been watching the movie with his girlfriend, said that about 20 minutes into the movie he saw a smoke bomb go off and heard what sounded like fireworks.
“I told my girlfriend to just play dead,” he told Reuters news service, adding that he never got a full view of the gunman. “All I could see was a silhouette.”
Florita Seeger said her 22-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was sitting in the second row of the theater when she saw an armed man clad in black and wearing a gas mask. “He looked like he was on a SWAT team,’’ Flores said her daughter told her.
The man threw a gas canister, fired toward the ceiling and then pointed a gun at Jennifer Seeger, her mother said. The young woman slid onto the floor with a friend and crawled as bullets flew around her, including one that nearly grazed her forehead.
“He pointed a gun at her from five feet away,’’ Florita Seeger said. “She told me ‘Mom, God saved me, God still loves me.’ ’’
One man told an NBC affiliate that he was in the adjacent theater watching another screening of the Batman movie when he heard gunshots and the theater filled with thick, choking smoke.
Police initially said 14 people were killed in the attack, which began just after 12:30 a.m., about a half-hour into the movie. But they later revised that number to 12--10 of whom died at the theater and two who were taken to the hospital but succumbed to their wounds.
Authorities said others remain hospitalized in critical condition, and warned that the death toll could increase.
The shooting in the Denver suburb horrified the nation and immediately drew the attention of President Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, his GOP rival in the 2012 election.
Both Obama and Romney expressed condolences to the victims and said they would discuss the shootings in remarks later Friday. Obama canceled his scheduled campaign events.
Holmes lives in an apartment complex about five miles from the theater, authorities said, and indicated to police when he was taken into custody that there were explosives in his apartment. Police then went to the complex to check.
A San Diego woman who was contacted by ABC News told reporters she was Holmes’ mother. She said had awoken unaware of the shooting and had not yet been contacted by authorities, but immediately expressed concern to ABC that her son may have been involved.
“You have the right person,” she said. “I need to call the police . . . I need to fly out to Colorado.”
The Aurora police are leading the investigation, but the FBI and ATF are involved. FBI officials said there is no evidence that the shooting was linked to a terror group or part of a terror attack.
Authorities said they would hold a news briefing at 11 a.m. Colorado time (1 p.m. in Washington).
The first calls came to police around 12:39 a.m. The FBI alone had more than 100 agents on the scene by dawn, including bomb and evidence technicians.
Why Aurora likely won’t change debate
THE FIX | History suggests that high-profile incidents involving
guns have little effect on how people view the right role for guns in
society.http://www.washingtonpost.com/colorado-shooter-identified-as-james-holmes-24/2012/07/20/gJQAWkdrxW_story.html?wpisrc=al_national
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