Felxfame's Blog

Authorities say they were
successful in disarming a
second trip wire and are
hopeful that all major
threats have been
eliminated in the booby-
trapped apartment of the suspect in a deadly
shooting spree at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater.
The suspect, James Holmes is accused of going
on a shooting rampage at the movie theater
during Friday's midnight showing of "The Dark
Knight Rises." He was packing as many as 6,000
rounds of ammunition with the ability to shoot up
to 50 a minute, police said.
Aurora police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson says the
booby trap trip wire at his apartment was "meant
to kill," the first person who opened the door to
the apartment.
The Aurora police chief says the trap was meant
specifically to kill a police officer who might have
opened the door.
"We sure as hell are angry," Chief Dan Oates said
about the trap being aimed at officers. Oates also
tried to head off a mental incompetence defense
by saying Holmes was deliberate and calculating
in receiving numerous commercial deliveries to
his home and workplaces over the past four
months.
"This is some serious stuff that our team is
dealing with," Sgt. Carlson said. Witnesses have
reported hearing two small booms during the
disarming process.
Holmes' apartment was loaded with explosives
and authorities say they will not know for sure
what is inside until they enter and test results
come back from an FBI lab. A robot was sent in to
disarm and diffuse the major threats as well as
remove evidence.
Initial attempts to enter the apartment Friday
were unsuccessful. The FBI, ATF and local
authorities are working together to enter the
apartment.
"There are still unknowns, we're not exactly sure
of everything that's in there" Sgt. Carlson said.
The unknown includes jars that are believed to
contain accelerates. Authorities say there are
balloons filled with gun powder and bullets
littered throughout the floor.
The first phase, which according to officials was
successful, was to render the area safe and
address the immediate threat of the wire trip
booby trap. The public had been warned that
parts of these phases may cause loud booms and
have planned for reverse 911 calls for the area so
that the public may remain informed.
The second phase will be to dispose of the aerial
shells which will include placing the devices into
sand trucks and taken to a disposal site for a
controlled detonation. Authorities believe there
may be up to as many as 30 shells.
The third phase will be the investigation of the
apartment itself.
"There is no timeline, there is no end time," Sgt.
Carlson said. "We don't need to rush anything,"
she said.
Authorities said Saturday that they hope to begin
allowing residents back into their homes by
Sunday. They also said they hope to finish with
the investigation at the movie theater by Monday,
with the goal of handing the theater back to the
owners by Wednesday.
Relatives of two of the twelve dead confirmed late
Friday that their loved ones were killed during the
midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."
The family of Alex Sullivan issued a statement
confirming his death. He died on his 27th
birthday.
Twenty-three-year-old Micayla Medek was also
among the dead.
Her father's cousin, Anita Busch, says the sad
news at least brought peace to the family.
The brother of Jessica Ghawi previously confirmed
his sister's death.
"He looked like an assassin ready to go to war,"
said Jordan Crofter, a moviegoer who was unhurt
in the attack early Friday, about a half-hour after
the special midnight opening of "The Dark Knight
Rises."
Holmes, used a military-style semi-automatic rifle,
a shotgun and a pistol, stopping only to reload.
The suspect marched up the aisle in the stadium-
style theater, picking off those who tried to flee,
witnesses said. Authorities said he hit scores of
people, with a few of the 70 victims suffering
their injuries not by gunfire but in the ensuing
chaos. At least one person was struck in an
adjacent theater by gunfire that went through
the wall.
"He would reload and shoot and anyone who
would try to leave would just get killed," said
Jennifer Seeger, adding that bullet casings landed
on her head and burned her forehead.
Within minutes, frantic emergency services calls
brought some 200 police officers, ambulances
and emergency crews to the theater. Holmes was
captured in the parking lot and remains in police
custody. Police said they later found that his
nearby apartment was booby-trapped.
Authorities gave no motive for the attack. The FBI
said there was no indication of ties to any terrorist
groups.
In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond
Kelly said: "It clearly looks like a deranged
individual. He has his hair painted red. He said he
was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman."
It was the worst mass shooting in the U.S. since
the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas. An
Army psychiatrist was charged with killing 13
soldiers and civilians and wounding more than
two dozen others.
It was the deadliest in Colorado since the
Columbine High School massacre in suburban
Denver in 1999, when two students killed 12
classmates and a teacher and wounded 26 others
before killing themselves.
The latest shooting rocked this sprawling suburb
of 325,000 east of Denver. A makeshift memorial
with 12 candles in a row and piles of flowers sat
at a corner near the entrance to the movie
theater parking lot. Up the hill from there, about
20 pastors led an emotional vigil for about 350
people, some hugging and crying
At an emotional afternoon news conference,
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said the people
would rise above the spasm of violence, and
ultimately not be "defined" by the tragedy.
The new Batman movie, the last in the trilogy
starring Christian Bale, opened worldwide Friday
with midnight showings in the U.S. The plot has
the villain Bane facing Bale's Caped Crusader with
a nuclear weapon that could destroy all of
fictional Gotham.
The shooting prompted officials to cancel the red-
carpet premiere in Paris, and some U.S. movie
theaters stepped up security for daytime
showings.
The film's director, Christopher Nolan, issued a
statement on behalf of the cast and crew,
expressing their "profound sorrow at the
senseless tragedy."
"Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately
express our feelings for the innocent victims of
this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with
them and their families," Nolan said.
"Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I
cannot begin to truly understand the pain and
grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my
heart goes out to them." actor Christian Bales
said in a statement.
The attack began shortly after midnight at the
multiplex in Aurora. Audience members said they
thought it was part of the movie, or some kind of
stunt associated with it.
The film has several scenes of public mayhem -- a
hallmark of superhero movies. In one scene, Bane
leads an attack on a stock exchange, and in
another he leads a shooting and bombing
rampage on a packed football stadium.
A federal law enforcement official said Holmes
bought a ticket to the show, went into the
theater as part of the crowd and propped open
an exit door as the movie was playing. The
suspect then donned protective ballistic gear and
opened fire, the official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing
investigation.
At some point, the gunman appeared to have
stepped outside because several witnesses saw
him come through the door.
"All I saw is the door swinging open and the
street lights behind, and you could see a
silhouette," said Crofter, who was sitting on the
left side of the theater and toward the front.
Sylvana Guillen said the gunman, clad in dark
clothing, appeared at the front of the theater as
the character Catwoman appeared in the movie.
Then they heard gunshots and smelled smoke
from a canister he was carrying.
As she and her friend, Misha Mostashiry, ran to
the exit, Guillen said, they saw a man slip in the
blood of a wounded woman he was trying to help.
Oates said the gunman wore a gas mask and a
ballistic helmet and vest, as well as leg, groin and
throat protectors. He said he bought four guns
from local gun shops in the last 60 days and
6,000 rounds of ammunition, including a drum
magazine that could fire 50 to 60 rounds per
minute.
"My understanding is that all the weapons that he
possessed, he possessed legally. And all the clips
that he possessed, he possessed legally. And all
the ammunition that he possessed, he possessed
legally," Oates said at a press conference Friday.
Seeger said she thought it was showmanship.
"I didn't think it was real," Seeger said. She said
she was in the second row, about four feet from
the gunman, when he pointed a gun at her face.
"I was just a deer in headlights. I didn't know
what to do," she said.
Then she ducked to the ground as the gunman
shot people seated behind her.
Seeger said she began crawling toward an exit
when she saw a girl of about 14 "lying lifeless on
the stairs." She saw a man with a bullet wound in
his back and tried to check his pulse, but "I had
to go. I was going to get shot."
Later, police began entering the theater, asking
people to hold their hands up as they evacuated
the building.
Some of the victims were treated for chemical
exposure apparently related to canisters thrown
by the gunman. Those hurt included a 4-month-
old baby, who was treated at a hospital and
released.
Authorities started to remove the bodies from the
theater on Friday afternoon. Officials wheeled a
black bag on a stretcher out of the front
entrance, placing it in the back of a minivan. Ten
people died in the theater, while two others died
from their injuries later.
Those who knew Holmes described him as a shy,
intelligent person raised in California by parents
who were active in their well-to-do suburban
neighborhood in San Diego. Holmes played soccer
at Westview High School and ran cross-country
before going to college.
On Friday morning, police escorted Holmes'
father, a manager of a software company, from
their home while his mother, a nurse, stayed
inside, receiving visitors who came to offer
support. Holmes also has a younger sister.
"As you can understand, the Holmes family is
very upset about all of this," Lt. Andra Brown, the
San Diego police spokeswoman, told reporters in
the driveway of the family home. "It's a tragic
event and it's taken everyone by surprise.
They are definitely trying to work through this."
Police released a statement from his family that
said: "Our hearts go out to those who were
involved in this tragedy and to the families and
friends of those involved."
There have been no indications so far that Holmes
had any run-ins with the law before Friday.
Tom Mai, a retired electrical engineer, said Holmes
was a "shy guy" who came from a "very, very
nice family."
Holmes graduated from University of California,
Riverside, in the spring of 2010 a bachelor's
degree in neuroscience, a school spokesman said.
Mai said the mother told him Holmes couldn't find
a job after earning a master's degree and
returned to school.
He enrolled in the Ph.D. neuroscience program at
the University of Colorado-Denver in June 2011
but left the program last month, according to the
university.
Holmes lived in an apartment in Aurora, and FBI
agents and police who went there discovered it
was booby-trapped when they used a camera at
the end of a 12-foot pole to look inside.
Authorities evacuated surrounding residences,
and about two dozen people headed to a shelter
set up by the Red Cross at a local school.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.