Shooting @ Batman Movie Premeire

erinlea75

crazy people will find a way, even in countries with strict gun control laws. Here's a sample of mass shootings in Europe:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20110410-330320/Mass-shootings-in-EuropeFacts

I'd rather focus on what is causing people to do this, than the manner in which they did it.

33neenaj

Sad....crazy world we live in.

zombiefarmboy

Why do so many people in the world suck?

Danette73

So very very sad! Praying for all the families!!!!

10acity

If you haven't heard what happened, here's how it went down.

The shooter (24), who was wearing a gas mask, kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, and black tactical gear, kicked in the emergency exit door to Cinema 9, exploded tear gas into the crowd, then opened fire. 14 people are dead, 50 more are injured. Suspect was found in his car near the theater, where he had a gas mask, assault rifle, and a hand gun.

That's the skinny of it.

I'm interested to know WHY he did it.

This is undoubtedly sad.

The question we would ask in England is how did he get kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, assault rifle, and a hand gun - but our attitude to guns is very different

More than that, I'd like to know how he smuggled all of these things through the door, past the ticket agent, etc etc without anyone suspecting something was off ?

_EmmaStrong_

It is sad, extremely sad, that in this world, no one is immune from the possibility of violence of this nature. No matter how cautious we are, how law abiding we are, or how aware we are of our surroundings, violence is a REAL possibility in our lives. We will never be fully prepared to deal with it. My heart goes out to all the families involved in the horrible incident.

TylerJ76

If you haven't heard what happened, here's how it went down.

The shooter (24), who was wearing a gas mask, kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, and black tactical gear, kicked in the emergency exit door to Cinema 9, exploded tear gas into the crowd, then opened fire. 14 people are dead, 50 more are injured. Suspect was found in his car near the theater, where he had a gas mask, assault rifle, and a hand gun.

That's the skinny of it.

I'm interested to know WHY he did it.

This is undoubtedly sad.

The question we would ask in England is how did he get kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, assault rifle, and a hand gun - but our attitude to guns is very different

More than that, I'd like to know how he smuggled all of these things through the door, past the ticket agent, etc etc without anyone suspecting something was off ?

I'm fairly certain he came in through the emergency exit door in the theater...

NamibianRose

If you haven't heard what happened, here's how it went down.

The shooter (24), who was wearing a gas mask, kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, and black tactical gear, kicked in the emergency exit door to Cinema 9, exploded tear gas into the crowd, then opened fire. 14 people are dead, 50 more are injured. Suspect was found in his car near the theater, where he had a gas mask, assault rifle, and a hand gun.

That's the skinny of it.

I'm interested to know WHY he did it.

This is undoubtedly sad.

The question we would ask in England is how did he get kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, assault rifle, and a hand gun - but our attitude to guns is very different

More than that, I'd like to know how he smuggled all of these things through the door, past the ticket agent, etc etc without anyone suspecting something was off ?

I'm fairly certain he came in through the emergency exit door in the theater...

That's what I read in one of the news articles this morning too, he came in through the emergency exit.

livinginwoods

If you haven't heard what happened, here's how it went down.

The shooter (24), who was wearing a gas mask, kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, and black tactical gear, kicked in the emergency exit door to Cinema 9, exploded tear gas into the crowd, then opened fire. 14 people are dead, 50 more are injured. Suspect was found in his car near the theater, where he had a gas mask, assault rifle, and a hand gun.

That's the skinny of it.

I'm interested to know WHY he did it.

This is undoubtedly sad.

The question we would ask in England is how did he get kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, assault rifle, and a hand gun - but our attitude to guns is very different

More than that, I'd like to know how he smuggled all of these things through the door, past the ticket agent, etc etc without anyone suspecting something was off ?

Looks like he came through an Exit Emergency Door let off Tear Gas and people at first thought it was a stunt. Lots of people were dressed up as batman also and they think that people just thought he was in costume at first and it was a prank.

MindyBlack

what happened to the shooter??

He's police custody

Ahh, too bad he isn't in God's custody.

That's aweful. What a horrbinle nightmare for all those involved.

JPod279

If he came through an emergency exit door someone had to have opened it for him. You can't open those from the outside. I know the police have not mentioned an accomplice, but I would have to look long and hard at how else he got in. Especially if it was timed to coincide with a shooting scene. This movie has not been out so how would he know the exact time to enter? Perhaps a theater employee who got to screen the movie to make sure it worked?

Meloyelo2010

If you haven't heard what happened, here's how it went down.

The shooter (24), who was wearing a gas mask, kevlar helmet, kevlar vest, and black tactical gear, kicked in the emergency exit door to Cinema 9, exploded tear gas into the crowd, then opened fire. 14 people are dead, 50 more are injured. Suspect was found in his car near the theater, where he had a gas mask, assault rifle, and a hand gun.

That's the skinny of it.

I'm interested to know WHY he did it.

Why? He was suffering some mental health episode there is not rational reasoning for an attack like this

NamibianRose

If he came through an emergency exit door someone had to have opened it for him. You can't open those from the outside. I know the police have not mentioned an accomplice, but I would have to look long and hard at how else he got in. Especially if it was timed to coincide with a shooting scene. This movie has not been out so how would he know the exact time to enter? Perhaps a theater employee who got to screen the movie to make sure it worked?

— "According to witnesses, the shooter kicked in the emergency exit door in theater 9, threw some sort of disorienting smoke bombs and started shooting." (KUSA-TV)

Not exactly sure how he kicked in the door, but that's what is being said thus far.

ETA: it's a bit confusing because emergency exit's I know of open outward, not inward. I'd also would be interested in what police end up learning in their investigation. There's no rational reason for doing such a thing, but I wonder about his motive as well.

Cindym82

A lone gunman dressed in riot gear burst into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., at a midnight showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" and methodically began shooting patrons, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 50.
The suspect, James Holmes, 24, of Aurora, was caught by police in the parking lot of the Century 16 Movie Theaters, nine miles outside Denver, after police began receiving dozens of 911 calls at 12:39 a.m. MT. Police said the man appeared to have acted alone.

Witnesses in the movie theater said Holmes crashed into the auditorium through an emergency exit about 30 minutes into the film, set off a smoke bomb, and began shooting. Holmes stalked the aisles of the theater, shooting people at random, as panicked movie-watchers in the packed auditorium tried to escape, witnesses said.

"You just smelled smoke and you just kept hearing it, you just heard bam bam bam, non-stop. The gunman never had to reload. Shots just kept going, kept going, kept going," one witness told ABC News.

"I'm with coworkers and we're on the floor praying to God we don't get shot, and the gunshots continue on and on, and when the sound finally stopped, we started to get up and people were just bleeding," another theatergoer said.

Police said 10 victims died inside the theater, while dozens of others were taken to local hospitals, including a child as young as 6 years old.

A San Diego woman identifying herself as James Holmes's mother spoke briefly with ABC News this morning.

She had awoken unaware of the news of the shooting and had not been contacted by authorities. She immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved.

"You have the right person," she said.

"I need to call the police," she added. "I need to fly out to Colorado."

Holmes was wearing a bullet-proof vest and riot helmet and carrying a gas mask, rifle, and handgun, when he was apprehended, according to police. Holmes mentioned having explosives stored, leading police to evacuate his entire North Aurora apartment complex and search the buildings early this morning.

Witnesses watching movies in theaters next to the one where the shooting took place said bullets tore through the theater walls and they heard screaming.

"The suspect throws tear gas in the air, and as the tear gas appears he started shooting," said Lamar Lane, who was watching the midnight showing of the movie with his brother. "It was very hard to breathe. I told my brother to take cover. It took awhile. I started seeing flashes and screaming, I just saw blood and people yelling and a quick glimpse of the guy who had a gas mask on. I was pushed out. There was chaos, we started running."

One witness said she saw people dropping to the ground after the gunshots began.

"We were maybe 20 or 30 minutes into the movie and all you hear, first you smell smoke, everybody thought it was fireworks or something like that, and then you just see people dropping and the gunshots are constant," witness Christ Jones told ABC's Denver affiliate KMGH. "I heard at least 20 to 30 rounds within that minute or two."

A man who talked to a couple who was inside the theater told ABC News, "They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, and that when she turned around, she said all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people," he said. "The gunshots continued to go on and on and then after we didn't hear anything...we finally got up and there was people bleeding, there was people obviously may have been actually dead or anything, and we just ran up out of there, there was chaos everywhere."

Witnesses and victims were taken to Gateway High School for questioning.

Hundreds of police and FBI agents are involved in the investigation. A senior official who is monitoring the situation in Washington said that early guidance based on the early snapshot of this man's background indicated that this act does not appear to be linked to radical terrorism or anything related to Islamic terrorism.

Though police have said that they believe the shooter was acting alone, they checked all cars in the parking lot and cleared the area near the theater.

In a statement, President Obama said, "Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded."

A man who was in the adjacent theater with his son, said that the commotion began as one of the action scenes was starting up.

"These guys came through, and they say someone's shooting," he said. "I thought, 'Oh, they must have heard the fireworks, you know ... I had no idea. And then the alarms started to go off in the theater.'"

An explosive device was also found inside the movie house. Police are not sure whether the device, which investigators are calling a bomb, was already in place or whether it was thrown into the crowd.

Ambulances rushed to the scene as audience members fled the theater.

Investigators are now interviewing friends and associates of the suspect to get a sense of the man's background.

Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.

HunterKiller_wechange

Lets just hope that the guy that did it burns in hell for all eternity.

TylerJ76

Lets just hope that the guy that did it burns in hell for all eternity.

Probably safe to say...

JPod279

The reason is usually pretty simple. These types of killers feel like they have been wronged by society and they want to lash out against society. The theater is full of people who are a sample of society.

I have a degree in Criminal Justice and in one of my classes we had a speaker who was going over some material dealing with pedophiles. He said he tried to understand their mind, but then realized he never wanted to "understand" how a grown person could get sexual gratification from a child. Think about that statement. In the coming months this guy's life will be dissected and brought to light. We will get an insight into what may have motivated him to do this but don't ever try to "understand" his rationale for doing this.

NamibianRose

The reason is usually pretty simple. These types of killers feel like they have been wronged by society and they want to lash out against society. The theater is full of people who are a sample of society.

I have a degree in Criminal Justice and in one of my classes we had a speaker who was going over some material dealing with pedophiles. He said he tried to understand their mind, but then realized he never wanted to "understand" how a grown person could get sexual gratification from a child. Think about that statement. In the coming months this guy's life will be dissected and brought to light. We will get an insight into what may have motivated him to do this but don't ever try to "understand" his rationale for doing this.

I guess I was more or less wondering if the Batman movie was just random, knowing it would be a packed house, or if there's some bizarre reason he chose that movie. I know that sounds stupid, but I did wonder that.

BryGuy2

This is a terrible tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

jiamiamom

It just breaks my heart that an evening at the movies can turn so tragic. My prayers and thoughts are with all those families who lost a loved one because of it and to those recovering from it. Stay strong for each other.