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Revision as of 09:36, 22 July 2012

2012 Aurora shooting
Century 16 at Town Center at Aurora
Bottom left: Map of Colorado with Denver and Aurora marked. Top: Map of central Aurora. Bottom right: Aurora Town Center and the location of the Century 16 movie theater.
Location	14300 E. Alameda Avenue Aurora, Colorado, U.S.
Coordinates	39°42′21″N 104°49′14″W / 39.7059°N 104.8206°W / 39.7059; -104.8206
Date	12:39 a.m., July 20, 2012 (UTC-06:00) (2012-07-20T12:39 a.m.UTC-06:00)
Attack type	Mass murder
Weapons	Smith & Wesson AR-15, Remington Model 870, two .40 caliber Glock handguns
Deaths	12
Injured	58

On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. A gunman, dressed in protective clothing, set off smoke or gas canisters and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58. A 24-year-old man, James Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema minutes later, and is being treated by police as the prime suspect in the case.

Shooting

The attack occurred in Theater 9 at the Century 16 movie theater (operated by Cinemark) next to the Town Center at Aurora shopping mall. The shooter bought a ticket and walked into the cinema. He then left through an emergency exit, propping it open, went to his car parked behind the exit, dressed in protective clothing and retrieved his guns. He returned through the exit about 30 minutes into the film, dressed all in black; he was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector, a groin protector, a gas mask, and black tactical gloves.

Few in the audience thought Holmes a threat when he first entered the theater. He appeared to be wearing a costume, but others too had dressed up for the movie. Some thought the gunman was pulling a prank, while others thought he was part of a special effects installation set up for the premiere as a publicity stunt by the studio or theater.

Around the time of the first gun scene in the movie, the masked gunman threw a canister emitting a gas or smoke which partially obscured the audience's sight. He then fired a 12-gauge Remington Model 870 shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience. He also fired a Smith & Wesson AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and a .40 S&W Glock handgun, only stopping to reload. (A second Glock handgun was found in the suspect's car.) First he shot at the back of the room, and then toward people escaping in the aisles. Some bullets went through the wall hitting people in the neighboring Theater 8, which was screening the same film.

The first phone calls to emergency services via 9-1-1 were made at 12:39 a.m. The police arrived within 90 seconds and apprehended the suspect. The police interviewed over 200 witnesses following the attack. Investigators believe that the shooter acted on his own, and was part of no group. The alleged shooter had bought nearly 7,000 rounds of ammunition in the 60 days prior to the shooting. The guns and ammunition used in the attack had been bought legally, with the guns bought at local gun shops, and the ammunition ordered online.

After the shooting

The police arrested an unresisting Holmes behind the theater next to his car. The responding officers recovered several guns from inside the car and the theater. According to two federal authorities, the suspect had painted his hair red and called himself "The Joker".

Holmes is on suicide watch in solitary confinement and is due to appear in court on July 23, 2012.

Victims

The shooting injured 70 people, with ten dying at the scene and two in local hospitals. It is the largest number of casualties of any mass shooting in United States history.

The injured were treated at Children's Hospital Colorado, Denver Health Medical Center, The Medical Center of Aurora, Parker Adventist Hospital, Rose Medical Center, Swedish Hospital, and University Hospital, as well as at a makeshift hospital set up at the scene of the attack. Uninjured witnesses were taken to Gateway High School for police interviews. The victims were aged 3 months to 51 years old.

The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office listed the killed as Jonathan T. Blunk, Alexander J. Boik, Jesse E. Childress, Gordon Cowden, Jessica Ghawi, John T. Larimer, Matthew McQuinn, Micayla Medek, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, Alex M. Sullivan, Alexander Teves and Rebecca Wingo. McQuinn has been presumptively identified. The cause of death in all cases was related to gunshot wounds.

Suspect

James Holmes
Born	James Eagan Holmes (1987-12-13) December 13, 1987 (age 37) San Diego, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Westview High School
Alma mater	University of California, Riverside University of Colorado Denver (did not complete PhD program)

Background

Alleged shooter, James Eagan Holmes, was born December 13, 1987, and raised in San Diego, California. His family was active in a local Presbyterian church, according to a neighbor. He graduated from Westview High School in the Torrey Highlands community of San Diego in 2006, where he played soccer and ran cross-country before going to college.

He obtained an undergraduate degree with highest honors in neuroscience from the University of California, Riverside in 2010. Holmes was a member of several honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key. Holmes enrolled as a PhD student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. In 2012, his academic performance declined, and he scored poorly on the comprehensive exam in the spring. The university was not planning to expel him. Holmes, however, was in the process of withdrawing from the university. He had no prior criminal record.

Media outlets reported that they initially found few digital footprints left by Holmes, other than a university email address and an old Myspace photo. However, he was found to have profiles on the online dating services Adult FriendFinder and Match.com, in both cases with the tagline "Will you visit me in prison?".

Apartment

Once apprehended, Holmes told the police that he had booby-trapped his apartment with explosive devices before heading to the theater. Police then evacuated five buildings surrounding his Aurora residence, about 5 miles (8 km) north of the theater. The apartment complex is limited to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and staff members. FBI agents and police officers used a ladder to access Holmes' apartment, where they used a camera mounted on a pole and confirmed that the apartment was booby-trapped with explosives. Police stated that the explosives "look very sophisticated." Neighbors living below Holmes noted loud music coming from his apartment at midnight, and one went to his door to tell him she was calling the police; she reported that the door seemed to be unlocked, but chose not to open it. When she learned about the booby-traps, she stated "I am concerned if I had opened the door, I would have set it off." She reported the noise to police, but they did not respond before the events of the shooting had become priority.

On July 21, 2012, officials disarmed some trip wires and explosive devices using a fire department hook and ladder truck. This was to allow them to create an entry point into the apartment usable by a human or robot.

Reactions

President Barack Obama extended his condolences to the victims and their families, and ordered flags at government buildings flown at half staff, in tribute to the victims, until July 25. Both Obama's and Mitt Romney's campaigns temporarily suspended television advertising in Colorado for the upcoming presidential election.

President Obama is scheduled to visit Aurora on July 22, 2012 to meet with victims and families of the shooting as well as state and local officials, and to attend a memorial service for the victims.

The distributor of The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. stated that they were deeply saddened by the shooting. They canceled the film's gala premieres in Paris, Mexico, and Japan, suspended the marketing campaign for it in Finland, and decided to not report box office figures for the movie until Monday July 23, 2012. Other major film studios also did not release early box office numbers on July 21, 2012. Christopher Nolan, the film's director, spoke on behalf of his cast and crew and called the event "devastating". Many police departments and theaters across the country increased security after the attack. Certain versions of television advertisements for the movie have been cancelled. Warner Bros. instructed cinemas to stop showing a trailer for the film Gangster Squad, which preceded The Dark Knight Rises screenings in some cities, though not in Aurora, because it contained a scene involving the mass shooting of a movie theater audience with automatic weapons.

The evening after the shooting, a candlelight vigil was held at the site.

AMC Theatres will no longer admit guests with face-concealing masks or fake weapons.