AURORA, Colo., July 20 - A gunman in a gas mask and bullet-proof vest killed 12 people at a midnight premiere of the new Batman movie in a suburb of Denver early on Friday, sparking pandemonium when he hurled a gas canister into the auditorium and opened fire on moviegoers.
Some 55 others, including children, were hurt in the attack on the showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” at a mall in the suburb of Aurora, some of whom were treated for the effects of tear gas, hospital officials said.
Police took the suspect into custody in the parking lot behind the theater, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference.
Multiple media outlets named the suspect as James Eagan Holmes, 24, though Reuters had not independently confirmed his identity.
The suspect booby-trapped his Aurora apartment with sophisticated explosives, Oates told reporters.
“We are trying to determine how to disarm the flammable or explosive material. We could be here for hours or days,” Oates said. “The pictures are fairly disturbing. It looks very sophisticated, how it’s booby-trapped. It could be a very long wait.”
Police lifted to his third-floor window by a crane searched the suspect’s apartment building with a remote camera.
Firefighters, police and sheriff’s deputies from several jurisdictions swarmed the scene with heavy weaponry and trucks from the bomb squad.
BLOODY CHAOS AT CINEMA
The gunman, appeared at the front of the theater during the movie and released a canister which let out a hissing sound before gunfire erupted, police said.
“When we got out of the theater it was just chaos. There was this one who guy was on all fours crawling. There was this girl spitting up blood,” witness Donovan Tate told KCNC television. “There were bullet holes in some people’s backs, some people’s arms. There was this one guy who was stripped down to just his boxers. It looked like he was shot in the back or something. It was crazy.”
Confusion reigned as shooting broke out during an action scene in the summer blockbuster, one of more highly anticipated films of the year. The gunman may have blended in with other moviegoers who wore costumes as heroes and villains.
“He looked like he was in the military or like he was a SWAT person so he just kind of blended in with the chaos of the crowd. People thought he was probably like a cop or something,” witness Jennifer Seeger told NBC’s “Today.”
“He came in and threw in the gas can and then I knew it was real. He shot the ceiling and right after he shot the ceiling he pointed the gun right at me. At that point I dove into the aisle. And I got lucky because he didn’t shoot me,” she said.
President Barack Obama, who was notified of the shooting early on Friday morning by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, urged Americans to “stand together” with the people of Aurora and said political campaigning ahead of the Nov. 6 election should be set aside.
“There are going to be other days for politics. This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection,” Obama told supporters at a previously scheduled campaign event in Fort Myers, Florida, that he cut short to address the shooting.
“We’re going to stand by our neighbors in Colorado during this extraordinarily difficult time,” he said.
White House officials saw no connection to terrorism, an Obama spokesman said.
Obama’s opponent, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, pulled all television ads in Colorado until further notice and a scheduled campaign event was to be dedicated to addressing the shootings, campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.
MEMORIES OF COLUMBINE
The shooting evoked memories of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, also a Denver suburb and 17 miles (27 km) from Aurora, where two students opened fire and killed 12 students and a teacher.
Aurora Police spokesman Frank Fania said the suspect was carrying a knife, a rifle and a handgun when arrested, and one other gun was recovered from the theater. The gunman was also wearing a bulletproof vest and a gas mask.
“He did not resist, he did not put up a fight,” Fania said.
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. He later realized they were a rapid volley of gunshots.
“I told my girlfriend to just play dead,” he told Reuters, adding that he never got a full view of the gunman. “All I could see was a silhouette.”
One man told an NBC affiliate 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.
He saw bullets holes in the wall, and some people in his theater were wounded. “I heard moaning … they were in pain.”
In all six hospitals reported receiving 55 patients from the scene. Ten victims died in the theater and two died in the hospital, Fania told NBC.
“This is one of the most horrific nights I’ve ever had to work,” said Comilla Sasson, an emergency doctor at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora where 22 patients ranging in age from three months to 45 years arrived in private cars, police cars and ambulances.
SECURITY PRECAUTIONS
In New York, police will deploy officers at screenings of “The Dark Knight Rises” throughout the city “as a precaution against copycats,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement.
The Paris movie premiere was cancelled on Friday, event organizers said. Workmen cleared away barriers that had been set up in preparation for the premiere at a cinema on the capital’s Champs Elysees avenue.
“Warner Bros. is deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time,” said Jessica Zacholl, a spokeswoman for Time Warner-owned Warner Bros., the studio behind the film.
The film, with a budget of $250 million, opened on 4,404 screens, the second widest release ever behind “Twilight: Eclipse,” and industry analysts had said it stood a good chance of matching or beating the opening weekend box office record of $207 million set by Disney’s “Avengers” in May.
The prior release in the Batman series, “The Dark Knight,” has grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office since its release in 2008.
