University of Colorado, Denver
This photo from the University of Colorado, Denver, shows James Holmes, the suspect in a shooting at a Colorado movie theater that killed 12. Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the school's graduate program in neurosciences.
At the suspect's home, Oates said investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives were attempting to disarm what appeared to be sophisticated incendiary devices.
"We are not sure what we are dealing with in the home," Oates said. "There are incendiary devices … chemicals and wires, something I am not familiar with."
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Officials said the suspect purchased a ticket for the show and once inside the theater propped open an emergency exit door, which he later entered after retrieving four weapons and a tear gas canister.
Dressed in dark clothing, he stood at the front of the theater and hurled the canister as he fired into the crowd at around 12:30 a.m. MT at the multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora, police said.
"There were bullet (casings) just falling on my head. They were burning my forehead," Jennifer Seeger said, adding that the gunman, dressed like a SWAT team member, fired steadily except when he stopped to reload.


Video: Eyewitnesses recount shooting in Aurora, Colo., movie theater during showing of 'The Dark Knight Rises.'
"Every few seconds, it was just boom, boom, boom," she said. "He would reload and shoot, and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed."
"It almost seemed like fun to him," she told CNN.
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed to the scene after frantic calls flooded the 911 switchboard.
A police officer could be heard over a police scanner yelling, "Get us some damn gas masks for Theater 9; we can't get in."
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Officers came running in and told people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told The Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.
Moviegoers were confused at first because there was an on-screen gun battle happening at the time the shooting started.
"We all thought it was a joke," said Joseph Soto, 18, who was in an adjacent theater when shots rang out. "We found out it wasn't a joke."
Rounds from Theater 9, where the shooting occurred, came through the wall into Theater 8 where he was sitting, Soto said. He said theater staff ushered patrons out a side door, warning them not to go out the main entrance.
"It was relatively calm for what was happening," he said.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly at a news conference Friday said the shooter had dyed his hair red and called himself "The Joker," Batman's arch-villain.
"We have some information, most of it is public," he said. "It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He had his hair painted red, he said he was 'The Joker,' obviously the 'enemy' of Batman."
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July 20, 2012, 5:01 p.m.


al exposure, possibly related to a canister thrown by the gunman.
The youngest victim, a 3-month-old infant, was treated and released from the hospital, according to KUSA.
At Gateway High School, which officials used as a staging area to gather and interview witnesses, survivors were provided mental health counseling through the Red Cross while they waited to talk to investigators.
The Rev. Michael Borgstede of the nearby Mount Olive Lutheran Church said victims and witnesses need a "listening ear."
Borgstede said he walked over to the school to provide whatever counsel he could. "I'm just hoping to sit with them and pray," he said.
Eric Soto, 42, was at the school with his son Joseph. "He called me about 12:30 and said, 'Come pick me up, Dad, come pick me up.' I could tell he was nervous," Soto said.
"He said it sounded like firecrackers," Soto said, standing outside the school while his son was interviewed by investigators.
Aurora is on Denver's east side and is Colorado's third-largest city with 327,000 residents. It is home to a large Defense Department satellite intelligence operation at Buckley Air Force Base, as well as the Children's Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and a future Veterans Affairs hospital.
Officials in the area scrambled to use social media to get word out about the shooting.
"We certainly appreciate the nation's thoughts and prayers as our police department continues to investigate the terrible theater shooting tragedy that occurred today," said a statement posted on the city's Facebook. "Our condolences go out to the victims and their family members."
The Red Cross used Twitter to urge people who were in the theater to use social media to alert friends and family that they are safe. Spokesman Patricia Billinger recommended that area residents update their Facebook and other social media accounts to let their friends know they are safe.
Billinger said that during all the uncertainty about who was at what showing of the popular movie, taking that extra step will help reassure family and friends.
"People don't know how close you were, so help alleviate that anxiety," she said.
Chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, already in Colorado and New Mexico ministering to victims of the ravaging wildfires, redeployed to Aurora within hours of the shooting. The group's website included evangelical advice on "spiritual survival" in tragedy.
Radio stations were filled with calls from anguished listeners.
U.S. distributor Warner Bros. released a statement that said, "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."
The company canceled the Paris premiere of the movie, saying it would be inappropriate in light of the tragedy. It said had no plans to change or cancel domestic screenings.
New York Police Commissioner Kelly said the department plans to provide extra security at theaters in the five boroughs showing the new movie.
Gov. John Hickenlooper called the assault the "act of a very deranged mind."
"We can't allow people who are aberrations of nature to take away the joy of our society," a visibly shaken governor said at a press conference. "We will come back stronger than ever."
Jackie Mitchell, 45, said he shared a beer and a table at the nearby Zephyr Lounge with Holmes on Tuesday afternoon.
Mitchell, a furniture mover, said he had seen Holmes around a few times at the bar.
"He'd walk in, order a beer and go sit on the patio by himself," Mitchell said. "He seemed like a real educated dude."
Mitchell said he and Holmes chatted about football on the busy patio while Holmes drank a Bud Light. Mitchell said he was shocked when he heard Holmes was the shooting suspect.
"I don't got no hair, and what little I do stood up," Mitchell said. "That's some freaky (expletive), baby."