AURORA, Colorado (AP) – A gunman opened fire early Friday at a suburban Denver movie theater on the opening night of the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others, authorities said.
The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT (0630 GMT) at a theater at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora.
"Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a news conference.
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding in to authorities, officials said.
Officers found the gunman near a car behind the theater.
"A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon (were) found inside," he said.
The suspect was taken into custody, but no name was released. Oates said there's no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive.
The suspect spoke of "possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat," Oates said, without providing details on where that was.
He said police also checked for explosives in the parking lot and at the Century 16 theater and secured those areas.
Witness Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he was inside Theater 16 and heard several shots.
"Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station.
Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."
Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates talks to media at Aurora Mall on Friday.
The police chief said 10 victims died at the theater and four at area hospitals.
Two people in critical condition were rushed to a nearby medical center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.
She said emergency crews told her staff to prepare for several more patients from the shooting scene.
The youngest victim reported was a 6-year-old being treated at Children's Hospital Colorado, where a total of six victims were taken. Their condition wasn't known.
Their condition wasn't known. Aurora is located on the southeast outskirts of Denver.
4 comments:
Wow that sucks. Fucking crazy people with fucking guns. Can we blame Rush Limbaugh for this?
The other news outlets I've checked have the fatality number at 12 instead of 14.
I know this is the most trivial detail possible, but I keep getting stuck on the fact that the guy burst into the theater when the movie was 30 minutes in. What an asshole.
I know it's terrible but the first thing I thought was, "That sucks that those murdered people never got to watch the rest of Batman"
We sure can blame the bastard Octo, of course he'll take no credit though humble as he is.
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