Darros Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Twelve people were killed and 59 were injured in Aurora, Colo., during a sold-out midnight premier of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" when 24-year-old James Holmes allegedly unloaded four weapons' full of ammunition into the unsuspecting crowd.The number of casualties makes the incident the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. Holmes, an honors student and Ph.D candidate at a nearby college with a clean arrest record, allegedly entered the movie auditorium wearing a ballistics helmet, bullet-proof vest, bullet-proof leggings, gas mask and gloves. He detonated multiple smoke bombs, and then began firing at viewers in the sold-out auditorium, police said today. Bullets from the spree tore through the theater and into adjoining theaters, where at least one other person was struck and injured. Ten members of "The Dark Knight Rises" audience were killed in theater, while two others died later at area hospitals. Numerous patrons were in critical condition at six local hospitals, the Aurora police said this afternoon. Holmes was apprehended within minutes of the 12:39 a.m. shooting at his car behind the theater, where police found him in full riot gear and carrying three weapons, including a AR-15 assault rifle, which can hold upwards of 100 rounds, a Remington 12 gauge shot gun, and a .40 Glock handgun. A fourth handgun was found in the vehicle. Agents from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are tracing the weapons. ABC news confirmed that they were all purchased legally. According to police sources, Holmes told the officers arresting him that he was "The Joker," referring to the villain in the second installment of the Batman movie trilogy, "The Dark Knight." He also warned police that he had booby-trapped his apartment, leading officers to evacuate the Aurora apartment building. Police Chief Dan Oates said today that police, bomb squads, and the ATF have found a large number of explosive devices and trip wires at Holmes' apartment and have not yet decided how to proceed without setting off explosions. "The pictures we have from inside the apartment are pretty disturbing considering how elaborate the apartment is booby trapped," police said outside of the apartment complex today. The "flammable and explosive" materials could have blown up Holmes' apartment building and the ones near it, police said. The apartment complex is home exclusively to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and staff members, residents tell ABC News. Moviegoer Christopher Ramos today recalled the real-life horror of the midnight premiere of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," in Aurora, Colo., as a gunman decked in riot gear set off smoke bombs and opened fire on the unsuspecting audience. "People were running everywhere, running on top of me, like kicking me, jumping over me. And there were bodies on the ground," Ramos said. "I froze up. I was scared. I honestly thought I was going to die." "The image in our heads is stuck in there. I still have the ticket right here and honestly, I'm never going to forget this night at all. Because it was the first time I saw something that was real. Like a real-life nightmare that was there, not dreaming of," Ramos told ABC News today. Witnesses in the movie theater said they saw smoke and heard gunshots that they thought were part of the movie until they saw Holmes standing in front of the screen, after entering from an emergency exit. Holmes methodically stalked the aisles of the theater, shooting people at random, as panicked movie-watchers in the packed auditorium tried to escape, witnesses said. At one point the shooter exited the theater only to wait outside the doors and pick off patrons as they tried to exit, witness Jennifer Seeger told "Good Afternoon America." "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. The suspected shooter will face his first court appearance next week, according to district attorney Carol Chambers. Holmes, originally of San Diego, moved to Aurora to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado medical center, living just blocks from the hospital in an apartment that police say is now laced with explosives and being searched by HazMat teams. Federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News that Holmes bought a ticket to the movie, slipped out of the theater once it began and propped open the emergency exit before gathering his weapons and gear and coming back into the theater. Once inside, he opened fire. 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." The woman and her husband later released a statement saying their "hearts go out to those who involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy." http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16817842 (mobile site :U) I can't believe that someone would do that, it's sick and twisted. The perpetrator even killed a baby. Horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frat_tastic Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 This is a major tragedy and my heart goes out to those affected by it, but from all the sources I've seen the only mention of a baby involved was that a 3-month old was discharged from the hospital and sent back home to its parents. Just wanted to set that straight, as to not make the situation worse than it was. Which is already a horrible situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 My heart and prayers go out to all of those people effected.. May God rest the souls of those who died in this tragedy as well.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Purple_Knight Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 It's pretty scary, I live down the street from that movie theater . It's really odd when it happens so close to home . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helios Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Still find this whole thing crazy. What kind of motive could you even have to do such a terrible deed? My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone and their families who were involved in this tragic incident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 One does not randomly booby-trap one's apartment like that. Best wishes to all those affected - even those that didn't suffer physical injury have a long road ahead of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Here we go again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppy Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 This is Horrifying... I hope the people that were affected manage to recover as soon as they can... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Vanguard Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 And this is why I wait for the Blue-Ray DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I'm not sure why anyone would take a baby into a midnight cinema showing. Were they really that desperate to see the show as soon as it came out that they had to take their child who wouldn't even be able to watch it anyway? The parents will have this guilt on their shoulders for the rest of their lives. I was going to make this topic, however I really didn't know what to say. I just wonder how many more people will have to die before the USA gets tougher on its gun laws. It's a mistake to make such weapons so easily available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frat_tastic Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) The original post really should be updated. There was no baby killed. A baby (why it was there I don't know) was at the incident and taken to the hospital afterwards but was soon released after back to its parents. NO BABY DEATH. No need to create hysteria out of this already tragic event. EDIT: Although now reports are coming in of a 6-year old girl was killed. Edited July 21, 2012 by frat_tastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau of Isaac Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I'm not sure why anyone would take a baby into a midnight cinema showing. Were they really that desperate to see the show as soon as it came out that they had to take their child who wouldn't even be able to watch it anyway? The parents will have this guilt on their shoulders for the rest of their lives. Yeah, how heartless for them to have not known a crazed gunman would shoot up the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karasz Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) This is absolutely terrifying. I cannot imagine what these people are going through right now. My prayers go out to them in their time of recovery and despair. One of the saddest things to me is the death of one of the victims, a girl named Jessica Ghawi. She had narrowly avoided being involved in a shootout in a mall in Toronto a month prior to this, and tweeted that "she got lucky, but might not be lucky again." To escape death in one place, only to meet it once again in another. That's just sad beyond belief. One of the scariest things to me, though, was how the guy kept referring to himself as "The Joker" after he got caught. All I can say is that Heath Ledger's character left a horrifying legacy, for someone to take legally acquired firearms and actually use them on innocent civilians. It's all scary. Edited July 22, 2012 by Karaszure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 One of the scariest things to me, though, was how the guy kept referring to himself as "The Joker" after he got caught. All I can say is that Heath Ledger's character left a horrifying legacy, for someone to take legally acquired firearms and actually use them on innocent civilians. It's all scary. He isn't the only one making references to the movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darros Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 One of the saddest things to me is the death of one of the victims, a girl named Jessica Ghawi. She had narrowly avoided being involved in a shootout in a mall in Toronto a month prior to this, and tweeted that "she got lucky, but might not be lucky again." To escape death in one place, only to meet it once again in another. That's just sad beyond belief. Yeah, I heard about her on CTV News, she was a to-be-journalist, apparently she wrote about the experience escaping the first shootout. It's very sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewjeo Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Do you really think this guy wouldn't have just gone and acquired guns illegally if he couldn't get them legally? This past week has sucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Vanguard Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Was there a reasons as to why he did all that stuff? And where the hell did he get all those guns and explosive from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Tarrasque Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Since there was more debate about gun control than there was of the initial topic, that particular discussion's been moved here: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=34187 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agile Tit-Tyrant Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 One of the scariest things to me, though, was how the guy kept referring to himself as "The Joker" after he got caught. All I can say is that Heath Ledger's character left a horrifying legacy, for someone to take legally acquired firearms and actually use them on innocent civilians. It's all scary. I think gun laws in Colorado should become stricter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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