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A heavily armed gunman attacked an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater early Friday, tossing tear gas before opening fire on the terrified audience and killing 12 and wounding 38, authorities said. The theater was showing the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
One of the injured was just 3 months old, hospital workers said. The shooting unfolded inside a darkened theater packed with Batman fans, some in costume for the movie's premiere. Screaming, panicked moviegoers scrambled to escape from the black-clad gunman, who wore a gas mask and randomly shot as he walked up the theater's steps, witnesses said.
It was a scene "straight out of a horror film," said Chris Ramos, who was inside the theater. "He was just literally shooting everyone, like hunting season," Ramos said of the shooter.
Police officers swarming to the theater encountered bloody, groaning victims streaming out of the theater. Others remained inside, many with gruesome injuries, according to recordings of emergency calls with dispatchers. Victims flooded overwhelmed hospitals.
"I don't know how else to explain it, it's horrific," said Tracy Lauzon, director of EMS and trauma services at Aurora Medical Center. Two federal law enforcement officers identified the suspect as James Holmes, 24, of Aurora. Authorities recovered four guns -- a rifle similar to an AR-15, a shotgun and two Glock handguns, a senior official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms familiar with the investigation told CNN. It was unclear how many of the weapons were fired, the official said.
After the suspect told police there was a bomb at his apartment, officers went there and found a "very sophisticated" booby trap inside, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates told reporters. However, the senior ATF official said no explosives were found. Police arrested the man shortly after the shooting ended in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman, told CNN.
"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," Fania said. Police seized a rifle and a handgun from the suspect, and another gun was found in the theater, he said. It was unclear where law enforcement found a second handgun.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in an Arapahoe County, Colorado courtroom on Monday morning, Rob McCallum, spokesman for the Colorado Judicial Department said Friday. The court file was sealed, according to a court order.
One of the injured was just 3 months old, hospital workers said. The shooting unfolded inside a darkened theater packed with Batman fans, some in costume for the movie's premiere. Screaming, panicked moviegoers scrambled to escape from the black-clad gunman, who wore a gas mask and randomly shot as he walked up the theater's steps, witnesses said.
It was a scene "straight out of a horror film," said Chris Ramos, who was inside the theater. "He was just literally shooting everyone, like hunting season," Ramos said of the shooter.
Police officers swarming to the theater encountered bloody, groaning victims streaming out of the theater. Others remained inside, many with gruesome injuries, according to recordings of emergency calls with dispatchers. Victims flooded overwhelmed hospitals.
"I don't know how else to explain it, it's horrific," said Tracy Lauzon, director of EMS and trauma services at Aurora Medical Center. Two federal law enforcement officers identified the suspect as James Holmes, 24, of Aurora. Authorities recovered four guns -- a rifle similar to an AR-15, a shotgun and two Glock handguns, a senior official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms familiar with the investigation told CNN. It was unclear how many of the weapons were fired, the official said.
After the suspect told police there was a bomb at his apartment, officers went there and found a "very sophisticated" booby trap inside, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates told reporters. However, the senior ATF official said no explosives were found. Police arrested the man shortly after the shooting ended in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman, told CNN.
"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," Fania said. Police seized a rifle and a handgun from the suspect, and another gun was found in the theater, he said. It was unclear where law enforcement found a second handgun.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in an Arapahoe County, Colorado courtroom on Monday morning, Rob McCallum, spokesman for the Colorado Judicial Department said Friday. The court file was sealed, according to a court order.
