美國科羅拉多州丹佛市郊區廿日凌晨發生一名男子持槍闖入戲院，在蝙蝠俠電影「黑暗騎士：黎明昇起」的午夜場拋擲催淚瓦斯後對觀眾開槍，觀眾驚慌逃離，造成至少十二人死亡、五十九人受傷。一些傷者傷勢嚴重，死亡人數還可能升高。槍手隨後被捕，其住處被發現裝設詭雷，行凶動機仍在調查，但沒任何跡象顯示與恐怖攻擊有關。
丟催淚瓦斯再開槍 兇手落網
這起槍擊案發生在丹佛市郊奧羅拉的十六世紀戲院，當時有三個廳正在播放「黑暗騎士：黎明昇起」，當地時間凌晨零時三十九分，警方收到通報表示戲院發生槍擊案。據報電影放映時兇手出現在戲院的第九廳，從逃生門進入後，丟出裝著催淚瓦斯的罐子，接著一步步走上階梯，隨機對觀眾開槍。
槍擊案造成十人當場死亡，另兩人送醫不治。
目擊者描述，槍手開槍時十分冷靜，不發一語，只有重新裝彈時才停止開槍。警方接獲通報後，有數十名警察與救護人員湧入現場，警方疏散人群，檢查戲院是否有爆裂物，並在戲院後的停車場逮捕穿得一身黑的槍手，槍手戴著防毒面具，身穿防彈背心，被捕時手上拿著一把刀、一把AK步槍、兩把手槍。
歹徒裝扮 神似電影中大反派
警方已證實槍手為二十四歲男子詹姆士．荷姆斯，他是獨自犯案，曾是科羅拉多大學神經科學系博士生，上個月已輟學。該校發言人表示，不清楚荷姆斯為何輟學。
槍手被捕時並未抵抗，宣稱自己在奧羅拉的公寓藏有爆裂物，警方隨後趕緊疏散該區民眾並進行搜索。警方藉起重機登上公寓的三樓外牆，透過窗戶以儀器觀察屋內情況，發現兇嫌所住的公寓內部錯綜複雜，裝有詭雷與其他精密器材。
兇手藏爆裂物 住處發現詭雷
目擊民眾敘述，在現實世界裡發生的混亂槍擊場面就跟銀幕上的劇情幾乎一模一樣，電影裡的主要反派角色班恩（Bane）就是一個戴著防毒面具，到處興風作浪、殺人不眨眼的惡徒，高譚市民聞風喪膽。據當地警方指出，兇手戴著護目鏡和防毒面具，身穿防彈衣，造型神似班恩，他手持步槍和兩把手槍走進戲院。由於不少觀眾都是蝙蝠俠系列電影粉絲，特地打扮成劇中人物的模樣到戲院看電影，兇手可能就是這樣混進人群而未引起注意，結果他進入戲院內不久就朝觀眾發射催淚瓦斯，隨後就屠殺式開槍。
歐巴馬震驚 已暫停競選行程
原本在佛羅里達州要舉行選舉造勢大會的美國總統歐巴馬聞訊表示，他已暫停競選行程，將趕回華府處理丹佛槍擊案。歐巴馬說，這起「恐怖與悲劇」的槍擊案讓他和夫人感到相當震驚與難過，「有很多其他的日子留給政治，今天我認為是祈禱與反思的一天」。他說，槍手在電影放映會上濫殺，「這種暴力，這種邪惡，實在毫無道理」。
〔編譯陳維真、俞智敏／綜合報導〕2012-07-21
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James Holmes, Aurora Shooter, Described As 'Smart Kid,' Quiet Loner By Classmates
James Holmes, who is accused of shooting 71 people, killing 12, in a crowded theater at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie Friday, was a smart, quiet first-year student in a highly competitive graduate program, former classmates said.
"He was a loner," said a classmate of Holmes' in the neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, who requested anonymity. "He was quiet."
Holmes, 24, graduated with honors from University of California-Riverside with a degree in neuroscience in spring 2010. He enrolled in the University of Colorado in June 2011, and was "in the process of withdrawing" at the time of the shooting, according to a university spokeswoman. Holmes graduated in 2006 from Westview High School in San Diego.
Brian Martinez, Holmes' chemistry lab partner at Westview, recalled that he was a talented student. "He's a smart kid," Martinez said. "He was great at chemistry."
Martinez said Holmes seemed to be a normal teenager. "I never figured he'd do anything like this."
Students in the University of Colorado graduate neuroscience program are "highly motivated and typically have very strong credentials for admission," according to a school website. The program is "very competitive," Holmes' university classmate said.
"Most people who enter get a Ph.D.," he said.
A classmate of Holmes' as an undergraduate at UC-Riverside, remembered him as an "impressive" student. "He is a smart guy and a quick learner,"said Hongxia Wang in an email.
New York Police commissioner Ray Kelly said at a press conference that Holmes had dyed-red hair and said that he was "The Joker," the arch-nemesis of Batman, during the shooting. In a news conference Friday afternoon, Aurora police chief Dan Oates confirmed he had spoken to the NYPD, but declined to confirm Kelly's statements.
"We are not speculating on motive," Oates said.
An FBI spokesman said Holmes had no prior criminal record. His only previous encounter with police in Aurora is for a traffic ticket, Oates said.
Holmes was armed with an assault rifle, shotgun and two pistols, and wore a helmet, gas mask, bulletproof vest and other body armor, police said.
He surrendered to police shortly after the shooting, and alerted them to the presence of explosives in his apartment, a university-managed building 5 miles from the suburban Denver theater, police said. In the news conference, Oates confirmed that Holmes had rigged his apartment with "chemical and incendiary devices."
"Our investigation determined that his apartment is booby-trapped," Oates said. The explosives are "linked together by all kind of wires," he said.
Zhang Yi, who lived in the red-brick apartment building with Holmes, crossed paths with him the night of the shooting. Holmes was carrying two black duffel bags out to his car, and ignored a greeting. "Very unfriendly," Yi said.
Other neighbors reported that loud techno music began playing around midnight in Holmes' apartment. “We heard very loud music coming so I walked upstairs and banged on the door,” Kaitlyn Fonzi, a 20-year old biology student at the University of Colorado at Denver, said on Friday.
She said when she banged on the door, it rattled as if it were unlocked. "I contemplated poking my head in and saying, 'Yo, shut that off'."
Fonzi and her boyfriend had never had a problem with their upstairs neighbor before, she said. "It was like nobody lived there." When she learned about the shooting and that the apartment was wired, Fonzi said she was glad she hadn't poked her head in.
Arthur Delaney, David Lohr, and William McGuinness contributed to this report.
2012-07-21 Huffington Post
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Colorado Shooting: What We Know About James Holmes
UPDATE 1:30 p.m. -- The Poway Unified School District has issued a statement, confirming reports that James Holmes was a graduate of Westview High School, Class of 2006.
"On behalf of the Poway Unified School District, Superintendent [John] Collins joins the rest of the nation in offering our deepest condolences to the victims and their families," the statement read.
UPDATE 1:00 p.m. -- According to University of Colorado Hospital spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery, James Holmes was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado-Denver graduate school. Montgomery said Holmes enrolled in the neuroscience program in 2011 and was in the process of withdrawing. She said she did not know why he had decided to withdraw.
UPDATE 11:30 a.m. -- More details are emerging about James Holmes, the suspected shooter in Thursday night's movie theater massacre in Colorado.
Lt. Andra Brown of the San Diego Police Department briefed reporters outside James Holmes' mother's home Friday. Brown confirmed Holmes attended high school in San Diego before going to Colorado to pursue additional studies. Brown would not name either school.
San Diego media outlets have reported Holmes attended high school at Westview in Carmel Valley and graduated in 2006.
Brown said Holmes' mother was in her house, but that his father has been "escorted from the home." She did not elaborate further.
"The police department is just here to preserve the peace and to make sure the privacy of the family is still respected," said Brown. "That's the only reason why the San Diego police department is here."
Brown also provided a statement to reporters from the family.
"Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy," the statement read. "We ask that the media respect our privacy at this difficult time ... We are still trying to process this info and appreciate that people respect our privacy."
Margie Aguilar, who has lived for 10 years on the same San Diego block as Holmes' family briefly spoke to HuffPost
"I feel heartbroken," she said, adding that her children went to high school with the suspected shooter. "They're [the Holmes family] victims in this, too. I want to respect their privacy.
"Everybody is in shock and devastated."
Police are still trying to clear the suspect's Aurora apartment. According to police, explosives found inside the unit are "very sophisticated" and could take some time to disarm.
The U.S. Army, in response to speculation that Holmes had served in the military, issued a statement that said they found "no evidence" he had served in the Army."
EARLIER -- An initial portrait of James Holmes, the man allegedly responsible for the mass shooting spree in a Colorado movie theater, is slowly emerging.
According to the police, Holmes lives in an apartment in Aurora, approximately five miles from the Century 16 movie theater where he gunned down at least 12 people and wounded 38 others during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Authorities at this hour are cautiously entering the apartment. The suspect, according to police, said he had explosives inside. The FBI has approximately 100 agents at the scene assisting with the investigation.
The FBI has revealed Holmes is a white male who is 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 24 years old, with a birth date of Dec. 13, 1987. Authorities have found no significant criminal record and no terrorist affiliations. Investigators suspect he acted alone.
A motive in the shooting is not yet known.
A San Diego, Calif., woman who identified herself as Holmes' mother told ABC News she had not yet been contacted by authorities. She said she was unaware of the shooting and expressed concern that her son may have been involved.
"You have the right person," she said, apparently speaking on instinct and not second-guessing her son would be involved. "I need to call the police ... I need to fly out to Colorado."
Holmes reportedly had Tennessee license plates on the vehicle he was driving at the time of the shooting, but a connection to that state remains unclear. He was arrested next to the vehicle, without incident, after the shooting spree ended. Police say he was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and gas mask at the time of the shooting and was armed with two long guns and a handgun.
As updates continue to trickle in, MSNBC reports that a survivor of the massacre in Colorado said she first thought the man dressed in black who entered through an exit door was part of the premier of the movie.
2012-07-21 Huffington Post
