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Author Topic: Mass Shooting Inside Aurora, Colorado Theater -12 dead & 58 wounded  (Read 131739 times)
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cadillac
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« Reply #60 on: July 23, 2012, 09:05:51 AM »

Blonde,

My thoughts exactly right after the tragedy.  I know a little about schizophrenia and his actions COULD fit the pattern.  A good defender just might go with it, whether he is or not.

Maybe he will take his own life, and the tax payers will be spared.
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labubske
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« Reply #61 on: July 23, 2012, 09:30:11 AM »

Blonde,

My thoughts exactly right after the tragedy.  I know a little about schizophrenia and his actions COULD fit the pattern.  A good defender just might go with it, whether he is or not.

Maybe he will take his own life, and the tax payers will be spared.

I agree. I am with patients with schizophrenia four days a week and just from what I have heard, he fits. 
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« Reply #62 on: July 23, 2012, 10:48:30 AM »

Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes to appear in court Monday morning

By Jason Sickles, July 23,2012

Holmes' public defenders enter the courthouse, July 23, 2012. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)

CENTENNIAL, Colo.—The public will get its first look at the alleged movie theater gunman Monday morning when suspect James Holmes appears in a Colorado courtroom.

Monday's hearing, which will be broadcast live on television and the Web, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 EDT) and could be very brief. Under Colorado law, Holmes will be advised of his rights, but few other details could emerge.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty could be weeks or months away, District Attorney Carol Chambers told reporters as she entered the courthouse.

"It will be a conversation we have with the victims before we make that decision," Chambers said.

Holmes, 24, is accused of blasting his way through a packed movie theater on Friday in Aurora, Colo., during a midnight screening of "Dark Knight Rises."


http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/colorado-shooting-suspect-james-holmes-appear-court-monday-111006043.html
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KittyMom
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« Reply #63 on: July 23, 2012, 10:57:47 AM »

I've wondered if he hasn't had some type of mental illness most of his life and it was just never diagnosed or his behavior was excused as part of his genius.  I'll bet something has been happening with him over the past year that worried his family but they couldn't get him to recognize the need for help.  The state of mental health services in this country is awful. 
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« Reply #64 on: July 23, 2012, 11:53:47 AM »

Just saw the "Joker"s 1st appearance in the courtroom.  His hair looks ridiculous. But the most astonishing sight was his face.  No emotion, nor appearance of even hearing or interacting with the attorney sitting next to him.  He looked mentally ill, or medicated.  I see a sanity case coming.  I also wonder if he was just acting, to use that defense.
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« Reply #65 on: July 23, 2012, 11:54:31 AM »




"Dark Knight" shooter James Holmes has a date with a Colorado judge this morning ... where the world will finally get a chance to get a look at the man who shot 70 people in a crowded movie theater ... and TMZ will LIVESTREAM the entire event.

Holmes is set to be arraigned for Friday's incident -- in which 12 people were killed. He is likely facing multiple counts of first degree murder and attempted murder.

http://www.tmz.com/

Edit to add correct link to article.  Needs to be direct link back, not a general link, please.  MB
http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/23/colorado-shooting-james-holmes-arraignment/
« Last Edit: July 23, 2012, 01:18:16 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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KittyMom
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« Reply #66 on: July 23, 2012, 12:13:30 PM »

I watch the very end of it.  He looked to me like he was thinking....I can't believe this is really happening.
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« Reply #67 on: July 23, 2012, 12:23:47 PM »

Hmm no  spitting today, I wonder if they drugged him?
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« Reply #68 on: July 23, 2012, 12:44:55 PM »

Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes appears dazed in court
July 21 2012

Holmes, who was transported from from a holding cell to the courtroom via an underground tunnel, appeared dazed. His brow furrowed. His head bobbed. His eyes opened and closed often.

His hair was dyed red. His hands and feet were shackled. He did not speak.

Seated in a jury box next public defender Tamara Brady, Holmes never looked in the direction of a gallery that included about two dozen victims and victims advocates.

The preliminary hearing lasted for about 11 minutes. Holmes' next court appearance is July 30. ::snipping2::


http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/colorado-shooting-suspect-james-holmes-appear-court-monday-111006043.html
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cw618
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« Reply #69 on: July 23, 2012, 01:59:09 PM »

Raw Video: First look at Colo. Shooting suspect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umffK0Wrwdk&feature=plcp
Colo. Shooting Suspect in Court Dazed, Sleepy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN5AaG3ctoY&feature=plcp
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« Reply #70 on: July 23, 2012, 02:37:58 PM »

Suspicious Package Reported At Anshutz Medical Campus
Package Found By Old Army Hospital

Posted by: Thomas Hendrick, New Media Producer

POSTED: 10:43 am MDT July 23, 2012
UPDATED: 12:17 pm MDT July 23, 2012


DENVER -- Authorities were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus Monday morning after a report of a suspicious package. ::snipping2::

The Anschutz medical campus is on heightened alert after it was revealed that the man accused of killing 12 people in an Aurora movie theater attended the University of Colorado at Denver and was studying at the medical campus. ::snipping2::

The university plans to hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. to talk about Holmes attendance at CU. ::snipping2::

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/31295646/detail.html


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« Reply #71 on: July 23, 2012, 02:41:13 PM »


James Holmes
REJECTED By 3 Women
Before Shooting



TMZ spoke with three women who were contacted by Holmes since he opened his account on July 5  ... and each of the women tell us they turned down the killer's requests to meet up.

One of the women tells us ... Holmes wasn't aggressively seeking out sex -- in fact, she says he was "just looking to maybe chat ... nothing sexual."

The woman told us she rejected Holmes because she just wasn't into him.  ::snipping2::


http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/23/james-holmes-colorado-shooter-sex-adult-friend-finder-rejected/
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« Reply #72 on: July 23, 2012, 04:49:24 PM »

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/22/pastor-colo-suspect-was-s_n_1693563.html

James Holmes' Family Pastor Recalls Alleged Colorado Shooter As A Shy Boy Driven To Succeed

07/22/12 05:48 PM ET AP

SAN DIEGO -- A pastor for the family of Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes recalls him being a shy boy who was driven to succeed academically.

Senior Pastor Jerald Borgie (BOR'-gee) of Penasquitos Lutheran Church in San Diego said Sunday he was always the one to start conversations with Holmes, who never approached Borgie and wasn't seen mingling at the church with other people his age.

Borgie recalls a proud, intelligent boy who was determined to go to graduate school.

 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #73 on: July 23, 2012, 04:55:46 PM »

http://tinyurl.com/cuo3ooc
http://preview.tinyurl.com/cuo3ooc

Colo. shooting suspect used Internet for arsenal

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI
updated 7/23/2012 1:00:09 PM ET

DENVER — In a world where Amazon can track your next book purchase and you must register to buy allergy medicine, James Eagan Holmes spent months stockpiling thousands of bullets and head-to-toe ballistic gear without raising any red flags with authorities.

The suspect in the mass theater shooting availed himself of an unregulated online marketplace that allows consumers to acquire some of the tools of modern warfare as if they were pieces of a new wardrobe. The Internet is awash in sites ranging from BulkAmmo.com, which this weekend listed a sale on a thousand rifle rounds for $335, to eBay, where bidding on one armored special forces helmet has risen to $799.

"We're different than other cultures," said Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, which advocates for firearms owners' rights. "We do allow Americans to possess the accoutrements that our military generally has."

Gun rights activists like Brown celebrate that freedom, but even some involved in the trade are troubled by how easily Holmes stocked up for his alleged rampage.

Chad Weinman runs TacticalGear.com, which caters to police officers looking to augment their equipment, members of the military who don't want to wait on permission from the bureaucracy for new combat gear, and hobbyists like survivalists and paintballers. The site receives "thousands" of orders daily, sometimes from entire platoons that are about to deploy to war zones.

On July 2, Holmes placed a $306 order with the site for a combat vest, magazine holders and a knife, paying extra for expedited two-day shipping to his Aurora apartment. The order, Weinman said, didn't stand out.

"There's a whole range of consumers who have an appetite for these products, and 99.9 percent of them are law-abiding citizens," Weinman said. But he said that "it makes me sick" that Holmes bought material from him. He added that he doesn't sell guns or ammunition and that he was "shocked" at the amount of bullets that Holmes allegedly bought online.

Authorities say all of Holmes' purchases were legal — and there is no official system to track whether people are stockpiling vast amounts of firepower.

 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #74 on: July 23, 2012, 05:31:48 PM »

A post from our CEO regarding the tragic shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater.

On July 2, 2012 TacticalGear.com received an order from James Holmes, the alleged shooter in the Colorado theater massacre. His order included an urban assault vest, two magazine pouches and a tactical knife spending a total of $306.79. Mr. Holmes elected to pay an additional $15.63 for UPS 2nd Day Air to expedite his order. We processed this order as any other, and Mr. Holmes signed for the associated package on July 5 at 2:21 p.m. local time. ::snipping2::

http://tacticalgear.com/news/colorado-shooting/
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« Reply #75 on: July 23, 2012, 06:15:49 PM »

Woman says photo shows angel in the clouds above Colorado theater vigil



larger img at link
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/woman-says-photo-shows-angel-in-the-clouds-above-colorado-theater-vigil
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« Reply #76 on: July 23, 2012, 06:55:01 PM »

http://tinyurl.com/d9kajwq
http://preview.tinyurl.com/d9kajwq

James Holmes, Aurora Shooting Suspect, Faces Death Threats From Other Inmates

The Huffington Post  |  By Alana Horowitz Posted: 07/22/2012 3:33 pm Updated: 07/23/2012 10:45 am

Inmates and prison workers are reporting unusual behavior from the 24-year-old sole suspect of the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting.

According to the New York Daily News, James Egan Holmes entered the prison dressed up like the Joker, "acting crazy" and "spitting on guards". The Daily News also reported that other inmates have threatened to kill Holmes.

“All the inmates were talking about killing him," just-released inmate Wayne Medley told the Daily News. "Everyone was looking for an opportunity. It’s all they could talk about."

 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #77 on: July 23, 2012, 09:00:09 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1207/20/pmt.01.html

PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT
Movie Theater Massacre
Aired July 20, 2012 - 21:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST: Tonight, breaking news: a Colorado movie theater massacre -- officially now the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. A gunman opens fire at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was not saying anything at all. He was just quiet. He was literally shooting everyone. Like it was, like, hunting season or something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: At least 12 dead, 59 more injured, including a 4-month- old baby.

Is this a face of evil? Why would anyone commit this atrocity?

Plus, chilling stories from survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one guy, he was crawling on all fours and it seemed as if he had been shot in his back and he was just gasping for air, it was terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: The battle wages again over America's gun laws. The shooter bought all four of his weapons legally in the last two months. Is there anything could be done to prevent it?

This is PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT.

Good evening.

America is in shock tonight over an act of evil that in seconds left dozen people dead and 59 others injured. It's the largest mass shooting in the history of United States. All the victims wanted was to see the new Batman film -- a packed theater, nowhere to run or escape from this maniac.

We'll go live to the scene of the horror, that theater at suburban Denver. Police say the killer is James Holmes, a 24-year-old PhD student who after going his murder spree calmly surrendered. The vigil for the victims is being held right now. And we're moments away from a news conference by officials in Aurora, Colorado, which we will go live as soon as it begins.

We're going to have all the latest developments on this tragedy tonight. The latest on the suspect, the survivors, the motive.

But, first, we need to listen to what New York Mayor Bloomberg said today about the massacre.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: Where you stand on the Second Amendment, no matter where you stand on guns, we have a right to hear from both of them concretely. Not just in general. Specifically, what are they going to do about guns? And maybe every governor should stand up.

But, in the end, it is really the leadership at a national level, which is whoever's going to be president of the United States starting next January 1st -- what are they going to do about guns?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: I agree with Mayor Bloomberg. I fully respect the Second Amendment and every American's desire to defend themselves in their homes. But I simply don't believe the framers of the Constitution would have ever envisioned this disturbed young man utilizing his right to bear arms by legally four guns, including assault weapon capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute, specifically to murder fellow Americans.

There are now almost as many guns in America as there are people, and this could only surely lead to more senseless death. Something has to be done. And that debate will start tonight.

But, first, we start with our focus on the victims. With me now is a family who was in the theater and survived the massacre.

Patricia Legarreta, Jamie Rohrs, and their 4-year-old daughter and baby son were at the premiere when the killer opened fire. They join me now for an exclusive interview.

Welcome to you both. An appalling day for you, for those who lost their lives, for America. Tell me what happened. What was the first that you knew that this was going down?

PATRICIA LEGARRETA, SHOOTING VICTIM: You -- the first thing that happened is he came in through the exit door, through, you know, what is being said is tear gas. It was thrown across the theater and it popped and you see the smoke coming out. It almost hit somebody. At first you're thinking, oh, it's a prank, it's a joke. And he walks out and comes back in and next thing you know, you just see the flashes just coming out of his gun and that's when it was like this isn't a joke, this is real.

As that was happening, Jamie yelled --

MORGAN: Patricia, I'm terribly sorry, I have to hold you for one moment, because the press conference --

LEGARRETA: OK.

MORGAN: -- down in Aurora is about to start.

We're going to go live to the press conference and hear the very latest on the investigation I'll come straight back to you and Jamie.

CHIEF DAN OATES, AURORA POLICE DEPT.: Our governor, John Hickenlooper, makes remarks. Governor Hickenlooper?

GOV. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D), COLORADO: So this has been a long day and I appreciate how long a day it's been for all of you in the media. We are seeing the community rise up and do the things that great communities do.

We're dealing with this. Seventy casualties, not 71, there was a double reporting there, but the stories that are going to come out of this of how in a remarkably short time the police force in Aurora responded to this situation. Their efficiency in making an apprehension, the ability of our hospitals in remarkably short order to take care of al of these casualties, in an incredible system -- not to say -- I'm not saying it was all perfect but as this story is told, it will be remarkable.

As of 3:30, we still had 30 patients in hospitals, 11 still in critical condition. You know, this is -- it's an act that defies description. You can't connect emotions that we commonly think of.

I mean, everyone I've talked to all day is filled with an anger that can't find focus. And I think the challenge for all of us as a community is to recognize we have to move past that.

Obviously there's going to be a level of accountability to this. Individual is clearly disturbed. Either we will or we will not know exactly the roots of that, of how deep that disturbance is. We know how deep it is but where it came from.

But we are clear that we are going to rise back and lift ourselves above this. I visited several of the families in the hospital and we're going to have obviously some -- when you have that many people that have been injured, you're going to have people with lifetime disabilities.

And we're already as a community beginning to come together. Givingfirst.org, within three hours, we had $125,000 of matching gifts so as they raise money this is through one of the hospitals but all the hospitals are going to participate in this, to make sure the victims of this senseless act of violence that -- again, there just aren't words.

We want to do everything we can to make sure the victims are brought back in every way and supported in every way that we can. We're not going to let this community be defined by such a -- you know, if I had more sleep I might have a better vocabulary.

Anyway, I do think that the first responders were unbelievable, and their ability to work together and coordinate. Our support from the federal government has been incredible. Secretary Napolitano called me from Homeland Security earlier this morning and wanted to do everything she could. She was a little late because President Obama called me before that. But not until after he called Mayor Hogan. He called the police chief.

He called -- the whole country recognizes that this is something we don't accept, we can't explain at this point. But we're not -- we're not going to just let it happen to us. We're going to -- we're going to push back.

I also -- Mayor Hogan's not here. His leadership has been remarkable. And in times like this, you see, you know, what is the true quality of people and how can they deal with situations that, you know, there's no training, there's no way you can prepare for something like this.

I think the way he's handled all the integration of the different efforts between the federal and the state, the county and the local, it really is a remarkable skill. He's been able to keep everybody focused together. No one's pointing fingers. Everybody's moving forward to the next step. All right, this has happened what do we do next?

So in that sense -- and Chief Oates is unbelievable. I don't think I've ever done this but I think you should all give Chief Oates a hand.

(APPLAUSE)

HICKENLOOPER: So now, I'll give it back to Chief Oates.

OATES: OK, thank you, Governor. I want to point out that standing behind me are quite a few of our elected city officials and our state representatives. Congressman Perlmutter is also with us. Also joining me here is special agent Jimmy Yacone of the FBI and special agent Andrew Traver of ATF.

And our federal partners have been absolutely tremendous in supporting us. I want to start by saying how proud I am of the men and women of the Aurora Police Department and fire department and Mike Garcia from the fire department, the chief of the fire department, is also here with us.

OK. We got to straighten out some numbers. There are a total of 70 injured in this event, and as of this time, 12 dead. Still the number is 10 in the theater and the last of the bodies were removed from the theater a little after 5:00 this afternoon.

I want to correct one thing. I think earlier today I said the others were all hit by gunfire. I now know a handful of the people who were brought to area hospitals were not hit by gunfire but suffered other injured as a result of the chaos and trauma in the theater. And I can't tell you how many that is but it's a small number. Nearly everyone was shot.

Little information about our subject and the weapons he obtained. In the last 60 days, he purchased four guns at local metro guns shops. And through the Internet, he purchased over 6,000 rounds of ammunition, more than 3,000 rounds of 223, ammunition for the assault rifle, 3,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition for the two Glocks in his possession, and 300 rounds for the 12 gauge shotgun.

Also through the internet, he purchased multiple magazines for the 223 caliber assault rifle, including one 100-round drum magazine, which was recovered from the scene. I've been asked, was the weapon automatic or semiautomatic. I can't answer that question now. Even if it was semiautomatic, I'm told by experts that with that drum magazine, he could have gotten off 50 to 60 rounds, even if it was semiautomatic, within one minute. And as far as we know, it was a pretty rapid pace of fire in that theater.

This evening at 4:00, members of the police department and the many supporting agencies that have provided victim service advocates to support us met with approximately seven family and friends -- 70 members of family and friends who have not had an accounting of their missing loved ones. We met with them for approximately 90 minutes. We discussed all our efforts to identify the 10 bodies in the theater. And did the best we could to deal with their grief and anguish.

We are hopeful that sometime in the next hour we will get a confirmed list of the ten deceased and we will begin the agonizing process of meeting with those families and confirming what has happened to their loved ones. I can't emphasize enough the support of all our colleagues in local law enforcement in handing that extraordinarily difficult task.

We're also aided by our own police department psychologists. Aurora Public Schools has made available two high schools for tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. for professional grief counseling and other resources, including the resources of aurora mental health and the red cross. Those two schools will open at 9:00 a.m. Superintendent John Barry was with us to meet with the families.

And the support of the superintendent and the Aurora Public Schools has been absolutely tremendous.

In addition, I'll talk a little about the Paris Street location. We evacuated five apartment buildings including the apartment building of the subject. Those evacuees have been staying at central high school, again, with the support of Aurora Public Schools.

With regard to the Paris location, it is a very vexing problem how to enter that apartment safely. I personally have never seen anything like what the pictures show us is in there. I'm a layman when it comes to bomb stuff. I see an awful lot of wires, trip wires, jars full of ammunition, jars full of liquid, some things that look like mortar rounds. We have a lot of challenge, to get in there safely.

We decided this evening to postpone action on that until tomorrow sometime. All our folks were pretty well taxed and we needed a break and we're also, with the help of the federal government, we're bringing in some extra resources to consult on exactly how to deal with that problem.

We're hopeful that we will address and resolve that problem tomorrow. Unfortunately, this means that the families that were evacuated have to spend an evening in the evacuation center. We are at this time allowing families, one by one, to go back into four of the five buildings to retrieve necessities like medication and those kinds of things. And, again, our hope is that we'll resolve that tomorrow.

With regard to the investigation, I can tell you, we know a little bit more about our subject. We know he recently left the University of Colorado Medical School neuroscience program on a voluntary -- it was a voluntary separation. We know he hails originally from Riverside, California and attended U.C. California, Riverside campus. Neighbors report to us that he lived alone and he kept to himself.

I have the same cautions about the social media. One of the things modern investigators do is watch what appears on the Internet to see what clues we can find and we know you do that too. OK? And in the era of blogs and everything else, we just caution you that everything you read may not be true. OK?

With regard to our theaters in Aurora. We are -- there are four theaters in Aurora that show this movie. Until further notice, we will have some extra security at those theaters out of an abundance of caution.

I will tell you, I've been getting phone calls from some colleagues around the country asking about this. And I told them I don't know what you should do at your theaters but that's what we're going to do in Aurora for a while. We are fully staffed in all our districts. We're on 12-hour shifts because of the demands to support the crime scene and the new event on Paris.

And thanks to the Arapahoe County SWAT team and the Denver Police Department SWAT team. If we have any demand over the days for those assets, since we are fully taxed, we will turn to our colleagues to help us.

The Aurora town center will be open tomorrow. They've been wonderfully cooperative with the Aurora Police Department. I have a new tip line. If there are further tips that anyone wants to call, it's the crime stoppers number, 720-913-STOP, or 720-913-7867.

We're also offering a general information line for the community. Not for the press. I think the press knows how to reach us. This is for the community if they have questions. The general information number is 303-739-1862.


Our suspect is now in Arapahoe County jail. I just got a call from the sheriff. He asked me if I wanted his picture released. I said no. So I won't be releasing his picture for investigative reasons.

He will be arraigned or have first court appearance 8:30 a.m. on Monday in Arapahoe County district court. There has been an overwhelming outpouring of support for our families, for or victims, for our community, for our cops, for our firefighters, for our EMS people, for our investigators, by this entire community. We've received concern and condolences -- just remarkable.

Our community restaurants started pouring pizzas and food into our station houses here. Just to show support for our police department. And it's just absolutely wonderful.

I have an announcement on behalf of the city, Sunday at 6:30 p.m., there will be a prayer vigil right here in front of the Aurora Municipal Center. We know the governor and the mayor will speak and there will be an appropriate moment for reflection for our community.

Finally, I want to offer a huge thanks to our coroner, Michael Doverson (ph), for all he has done, to help us with the crime scene today and to expedite the recovery and identification of the bodies which is so, so important to our community.

And in terms of the next press briefing, we expect to be able to brief you tomorrow afternoon right here at 2:00 p.m. I will take questions.

REPORTER: Any sign of a motive at this point? Has he said anything about why he did this?

OATES: If we have information about a motive, we will not share it with you. We'd let that play out in the course of the criminal prosecution.

REPORTER: He's talking to you though?

OATES: I won't talk about his admissions.

Yes?

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) that perfectly legal?

OATES: My understanding is all the weapons he possessed, he possessed legally. And all the clips he possessed, he possessed legally. And all the ammunition he possessed, he possessed legally.

Yes?

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: No, I won't discuss how he got in. That's part of our investigation. As much as I'd like to be cooperative with you folks, the most important thing is that there is justice for these victims. And that justice will occur in a courtroom.

So whenever I say no here, it's because there's a higher reason and that is to make sure he is prosecuted correctly. Yes, ma'am?

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: No, I can't.

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: I gave a description this morning of his appearance. He was dressed all in black. For those of you who don't have this -- entirely in black, wearing a gas mask, a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest. Tactical means places to put all kinds of gear and clips. In addition, it was bulletproof, or bullet resistant.

He was wearing ballistic legging in case he took a round in the legs. He was wearing throat protection and groin protection, and he was wearing black tactical gloves. So that's what he looks like in the theater.

REPORTER: Chief, can you tell us if the devices that (INAUDIBLE).

OATES: I don't know enough about -- those of you who were here this morning know I reported that he released, it appears, two devices that set off some sort of smoke and/or chemical irritant. I don't know enough about them right now to answer any questions. Yes?

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: Our cops went through a lot. As I told you this morning, they rushed people out of that theater, into police cars. I've heard some compelling stories. One of the things we're working on is how we're going to deal with our own trauma. And we spent some time today with our three department psychologists and somehow in the next couple of days when this is -- when this has slowed down, one of our highest priorities is to deal with our own officers and how they cope with this event. And that's really al I have to say about this.

Anything else? Yes?
(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: I don't know where he got the armor.

REPORTER: What about the mask?

OATES: It was a gas mask.

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: You know, I apologize, I don't now how many families are evacuated. There are a total of five apartment buildings. They're roughly the same size. Three story buildings were anywhere from six to 10 units on a floor so you can do the math.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) -- obviously SWAT was not -- but they got there really quickly --

OATES: The officers who responded were wearing a regular uniform equipment including ballistic protection. We had a lot of people out last night. Because it was a Friday night and we have a special summer initiative under way where there's extra officers on the street. So, we were fortunate we had about 25 officers there like that.

And as I said earlier, in the end, somewhere between 150 to 200 officers and deputies fairly quickly thereafter.

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: Sorry?

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: I have no way to answer that question. If I knew, I wouldn't.

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: I was asked if he had an attorney -- yes, he has an attorney. And the question was, I'm sorry, was --

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) off-duty security at the theater --

OATES: Yes, and we usually work off-duty security at the theater on weekends. This was a Thursday night. And we were not there. But we were there within about 90 seconds.

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: Oh, I'm doing just fine.

Yes, sir?

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: I have some information from my detectives on his demeanor since his arrest but I will not share it with you. One more question.

(INAUDIBLE)

OATES: I don't know how many bullets went through the adjacent theater. I know enough went through that one person was hit.

OK. That concludes this briefing. Tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Thank you very much, folks.

MORGAN: An emotional press conference there with Dan Oates, who's the Aurora police chief in Colorado.

He's updated us now to say that 12 dead, 70 injured -- no, 12 dead, 58 people injured. One less than was first suspended, 30 hospitalized, 11 remain in critical condition. Not everybody was hit by gunfire. Some were injured in the melee that followed.

The suspect was dressed in black and tactical gear. He also released some extraordinary statistics about the ammunition that he built up: 6,000 rounds of ammunition he got on the Internet. Including 100-round drum magazine for an assault rifle which he then deployed, which could have fired 50 or 60 rounds in one minute. Quite extraordinary that he should find this legally obtainable in modern America.

We'll come back and discuss that after the break and also talk to some of the victims of this atrocity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: We're back now with the families who survived the shooting. Patricia Legarreta, Jamie Rohrs and their 4-year-old daughter and 4-month-old baby son. They were at the premiere when the killer opened fire. Let's get back to our exclusive interview.

I can see your young one there -- clearly has been a long and traumatic day. Perfectly understandable she should be a bit upset by now.

Tell me again. You were talking me through what happened. I'll start immediately, I've had a few people tweeting me to say ask them first of all why were they at the cinema with two such very young children. Answer that question first.

LEGARRETA: I take my kids to the movies all the time. It's something you don't expect. A family movie. It's even, you know, PG- 13.


I don't know. You -- we just moved from New Mexico. We don't have a lot of family here. We're huge Batman fans. My 4-year-old daughter just loves Batman. And we were excited.

So we, you know, last minute actually decided to go and get tickets and go as a family to the movies.

MORGAN: And once --

JAMIE ROHRS, SHOOTING VICTIM: And also --

MORGAN: Jamie, let me ask you, to be honest with you, I'm not that interested in why you took your children -- you're perfectly entitled to.

I'd rather move to what happened to you. I know that, Patricia, you were hit by a bullet. Did you realize at the time you've been hit by a bullet?

LEGARRETA: Well, at the -- I did. I could feel the sensation. I felt the tingling in my calf. And I remember at the time that I got hit, the man -- the young man, who was next to me got hit as well. And at the same time that I, you know, screamed "I think I got hit," he at the same time screamed as well And we both fell to the ground. And I got hit when I was --

MORGAN: Jamie, could you -- want to ask Jamie, could you see the killer? Could you see him?

ROHRS: No, I was in the middle -- I ended up on the row over, and then I ended up crawling out. And I'm, like, I'm going to run out. I'm like, you can't run out. So I turned back. And I fall up the stairs and land on my forearm. And I laid the baby down and I'm contemplating my steps. I find myself standing up and looking around.

I could see through the corner of my eye. My idea was don't let -- don't see him. Because if you see him, he can see you. Stay low. Stay -- just try to hide. And people are falling all around, like, you're just hearing screaming right next to me. I'm still standing. I don't know why -- how I'm not hit.

But every time a bullet flashed, you just hear the sound and your ears are ringing. You're like, this one's going to kill me. This one -- this is it.

MORGAN: It's absolutely horrific. I can quite understand why you're feeling now emotional about this. You had your family there, your whole family, and potentially facing the prospect of none of you getting out of that cinema alive when you go and watch a movie. When you heard -- I don't know if you heard the police just now revealing some of the details of the armory that this killer had built up, 6,000 rounds of ammunition he bought on the Internet, four weapons, including this assault rifle.

What is your reaction to that? There's a huge debate going on all around America today about gun control and so on. What is your reaction to the fact that this young man was legally able in the last two months to obtain four weapons, including an assault rifle, and so much ammunition and commit this atrocity?

ROHR: It's -- it's not right. Like, I mean, yes, people are entitled to things but how much weapons do you need? How many weapons? These are destructive -- they're not just handguns. They're shotguns, assault rifles, like you said. They're just so fast at killing people. Like you just realize how many people it can kill so fast. Because, I mean, this only took three minutes and 70 shot, 10 -- 12 dead. It's just -- these are weapons of destruction. It's horrific.

MORGAN: Jamie, did you think that you were going to get out alive or did you fear that everyone was going to die in there?

ROHR: No, this -- my thought was this is how it ends. This is how I die. This can't be the way I die. This can't be the way my son dies. He's four months. This can't be the way my girlfriend dies and our stepdaughter dies. She's four years.

And just so many things pacing through your head. But every time you see a gunshot, I see it through the corner of my eye, see someone drop. And I'm trying to, like, duck, like just trying to get out of the way. And people are falling next to me. But I'm still -- I'm still all right.

Just thinking, this is it. And I just found myself at a point where I had to do something. And it was when I was going to run down the stairs with Ethan. And I was like, he's going to see me and he's going to shoot me. At the point you -- at the time you don't realize it's one person. You think it's -- a million possibilities are going through your head. You're thinking, are they coming from the stairs? Are there more than one? Are there two? Are there three?

Just shots are going off all over. So I find myself just standing. And just my son's on the floor. And I'm looking around. Like, I see the balcony because the shots had stopped for a second. I look over to see if I can jump over because I'm on top of the balcony. And I'm contemplating in my head, like, can I jump, and can I jump with Ethan without him breaking his neck or me landing on him.

As I turn to, like, find Ethan in the dark of the theater with the gas, like, I'm just so disoriented and I lose him. I just lose him. And then he opened fire again. I'm, like, you got to get Ethan. You got to get Ethan. So I'm trying -- I'm, like, you got to run back, you got to find him and get him. And then once I say, just jump if you run back, you're dead. That's it. You're done. You're done. This is it. Just jump. Just pray that he won't kill your four4- month-old. Just pray that he don't find him.

So I jump and I run. I land and I'm running. I'm running. I'm looking behind me to see if people are running behind me. I'm looking for her and for our daughter. I don't see them. There's one half telling me, just go back in, go back. Like, you can't leave them in there. It's like, if you go back, you're dead too. What if our kids live and then they're orphans with no parents.

You're just thinking, like, please let them get out alive. Then I'm thinking, I don't want to live if they all die. I don't want to live if they all die. Just please. I'm praying, just praying. Just please let them get out alive. I got to my truck and I drove across to the mall. I'm try to call 911 and trying to call Patricia.

It's going -- it's just ringing. Every time it rings, I'm like, they're dead, they're dead, your whole family's dead. Just they're dead. And I couldn't think. I got a phone call from a Colorado number and I answered it and thank God it was Patricia just telling me. I was waiting for her to tell me, like, I have -- do you have Ethan. I didn't know what to tell her. Thank God, she had them both. She had them both.

And she was only shot in the head -- I mean shot in the leg. I was just expecting someone to be dead. I didn't think any of us were getting out alive, much less all four of us.

MORGAN: Jamie, it's utterly harrowing hearing your account of this. I'm just so glad that you made it. Obviously other people weren't so lucky. And it's been an appalling day for America.

Patricia, there is one happy ending to this. And that is what happened in the hospital later on, that Jamie did something very special. Tell me about that.

LEGARRETA: We were in the hospital for about a good 10 minutes. And he'd gone to the restroom and came out. And he just looked at me and he said I know this isn't the time or the place. He's like but will you marry me. And I said yes. You just -- something like this just -- knowing -- going through 10 minutes of thinking that he was dead and I'd never see him again, it just -- you never want that feeling again. And it's -- sorry.

MORGAN: Well, it's been an extraordinary conversation with you both. I'm so grateful that you're alive. I'm so grateful your children are alive. I wish you all the very best with your marriage and your future lives together. Lives that you weren't even sure you would have after what happened last night . It is a scandal that this kind of thing can happen to Americans in a movie theater. And that's got to be dealt with.

But for now, thank you very much for joining me.

ROHR: Thank you.

MORGAN: We'll be right back with more breaking news on this appalling atrocity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: We are back with breaking news on the Colorado movie theater shooting. With each new minute, we're getting new details about the alleged gunman, who is identified as 24-year-old James Holmes. Tom Mai used to live right next door to Holmes in San Diego. He joins me now.


Tom Mai, tell me what your reaction was when you heard that the killer who's been taken into custody was the same person that you lived next to.

TOM MAI, LIVED NEXT TO ALLEGED COLORADO SHOOTER: I'm shocked and saddened because of the whole situation. The family very nice. The young man is quiet, very nice, very good student. I guess the problem is we had too much, you know, violence in movie and game, the video games. I guess also the parent right to teach their children right and wrong was taken away by the court system and the educational system. You've got failing children and our failing American family too.

MORGAN: I mean, we don't know yet exactly what the motivation was, what may have caused him to do this. You lived next to him for 10 years. You shared Christmas with the family. You knew them better than almost anybody. You say there was no sign of this. What kind of boy was he?

MAI: He's a quiet guy, you know, very nice. When I come out, I see him, you know, like mowing the lawn or washing the car for his parents. So a typical American boy. Also like, you know, one time we have Christmas get-together with the neighbor at his home. He served my children cookie and hot cocoa, something like that, talking to them. Quiet, nice guy.

MORGAN: His mother still lives next door to you. Have you been able to speak to her today?

MAI: No, I haven't been able to talk to her because too many people tried to get her. And she want to, you know, not to talk to anybody.

MORGAN: It's obviously deeply shocking for them as well. We still await more details of what may have motivated him. Tom Mai, thank you very much for joining me.

MAI: Yeah, thank you very much.

MORGAN: What happened in Colorado is a tragedy. But could stricter gun laws have prevented it? The debate that many people are having tonight across America.

Joining me now is Harvard Law's Lawrence Tribe. He's a professor of constitutional law there. Mr. Tribe, it's a debate that rages every single time there is a shooting of this nature. This is the worst shooting in terms of people who were hit by gunfire that America has ever seen.

Is this enough, now, to prompt stricter gun control? And would stricter gun control have made a difference in this case?

PROF. LAWRENCE TRIBE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: First of all, I want to express my grief and my deep condolences for the victims. I think gun control is overdue. The Second Amendment does protect the rights of people to possess weapons for self-defense in the home. That's what the Supreme Court said.

But it certainly does not protect the right to buy 6,000 rounds of ammunition on the Internet or to buy four guns, including automatic and semiautomatic weapons, in a short period of time. There's no reason in the Constitution why we as a civilized society couldn't get our hands around a problem like that.

The reason is the National Rifle Association and all of the people who, frankly, make a living out of restricting the political possibility of gun control. We have to do something about it. I don't know how many killings, how much slaughters it's going to take before the nation wakes up to the need to address the problem.

I think we fool ourselves if we say better and stricter gun control would necessarily solve the problem. There are all kinds of things that we need to do. We may need to do things about the exits at movie theaters, so that if they are opened, there's an alarm that goes off if they are not immediately shut. We may need to do something about our educational system. We need to do something about the culture of violence.

But I think this is a time for the country to come together. And it's certainly not a time for us to divide over the question of whether we can impose reasonable controls on ammunition. I think everyone agrees that the Constitution permits that. It's simply our political system that has failed to act adequately.

MORGAN: Professor Tribe, very eloquently put. Thank you very much for joining me.

TRIBE: Thank you, Piers.

MORGAN: The most deadly shooting in American history was at Virginia Tech University in 2007. Colin Goddard was shot four times by the gunman who killed 32 people. He now works on legislation with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

He joins me along with Dan Gros, president of the Brady Campaign, and David Koppel, who is a law professor at Denver University and associate policy analyst at the Cato Institute.

Let me start with you, David Kopel, you heard there from Professor Tribe it is time now for gun control to be strengthened. What is your reaction to that?

DAVID KOPEL, PROFESSOR, DENVER UNIVERSITY: Honestly, Piers, I think this is the wrong night to be doing this. And I really wish you'd waited to have this segment until after the funerals. This is a time in Colorado and nationally when it would have been better to have more of the segments like you did before with the family, and when people could be unified in helping the victims.

MORGAN: Well, if I could jump in there --


(CROSS TALK)

MORGAN: Wait, let me just challenge you on that --

(CROSS TALK)

MORGAN: If I may, let me challenge you on what you just said. A lot of people have said that today, a lot people who don't want strengthening gun control have said this is not the day to debate it. I'll tell you the debate to debate it, would have been yesterday to prevent this happening. When you have a young man like this able to legally get 6,000 rounds of ammunition off the Internet, to buy four weapons including an assault rifle, and for all of this to be perfectly legal in modern America, allowing him to carry out the biggest shooting in the history of the United States, that, I'm afraid, means it's too late for this debate, for those people that lost their lives.

So don't patronize me about when we should be talking about the gun control debate. You tell me a good reason why we should not strengthen the law now to stop another young man like him going into a store tomorrow, buying four more weapons, 6,000 rounds of ammunition on the Internet, and killing and shooting another 70 people in America.

KOPEL: Because we don't even know the full facts of this situation yet. And that's another reason it would have been prudent for you to wait a few days where we know more about this. Nobody's been able to come up with any proposal specific about the facts of this case, partly because the facts are still being developed. And I know -- you've said many times on the air, America's got too many guns. You want to drastically reduce the number of guns.

If your whole point is there's too many gun, we've got to get rid of lots of them, drastically constrict things, and you think somehow that's going to make it better, well, there's no real evidence that it will. If you want to talk about specific reforms that might involve this specific guy, and prevent future people like him, that's fine. But let's wait till we find out the information, instead of rushing the country into this pro/con thing that I know sells a lot of commercials on TV, but it's inappropriately divisive now.

Nobody's stopping you from having the segment on Wednesday. Can you give people a little bit of breathing room --

MORGAN: OK, you've made your point. Let's move to Dan Gross from the Brady Campaign because I'm really not interested in having a debate about whether we can debate gun control. Given that we now know this young man legally purchased these weapons in the last two months, and purchased this staggering amount of ammunition -- he purchased a hundred-round drum magazine, allowing him to fire off 50 to 60 rounds in one minute in that movie theater, which is what has led to this mass slaughter and mass gun attack


Given what has happened today, do you think there is now legitimate cause to press politicians for tougher gun control in America?

DAN GROSS, THE BRADY CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: Piers, I think, like you said, that legitimate cause existed yesterday. And it exists today. It will exist tomorrow. This should be incentive for everybody to make their voice heard. Because, you know, with these guys, it's never the time to talk about it.

You know what, we're not going to talk about it seriously as a nation until the American people get involved in this issue and demand accountability from our leaders, not to do the bidding of the gun lobby, but to represent the people that they've been elected to represent and to prevent tragedies like this.

If Mr. Kopel wants to talk about specific things that can be done to prevent specific people from getting specific guns, you know, what about background checks that can prevent convicted felons, convicted domestic abusers from getting their hands on their guns? The gun lobby works against laws like that on a regular basis. And they're going to be able to continue to until we make our voice heard, which is why the Brady Campaign is launching a petition today at BradyCampaign.org that -- for Americans to sign, to demand that our elected officials do something about this issue, to stop arming dangerous people like this young man was armed today.

MORGAN: Yeah, and just to be clear, you've made it clear that you didn't wait. You didn't wait. You acted today because today is the day to act to prevent something happening tomorrow. Let me go to Colin Goddard. You survived the Virginia Tech shooting, Colin. You went to Capitol Hill to try to persuade Congress to try and reform the gun control laws.

There are many strands to this. As people pointed out to me, in Chicago they have pretty tough laws and they have an almost wild west scenario there with gun crime and shootings amongst the gangs. But that has to do with, in my view, the incredible amount of guns that are in circulation illegally in America. There are apparently nearly as many guns now in circulation in America as there are people.

I'm afraid, the more guns you have, the more likelihood there is they're going to get used. Colin, what is the answer? How are you going to persuade the law makers and politicians? Because at the moment I'm being told by everyone on the airwaves today neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney will even mention guns before the election. It's not politically helpful to them getting elected. That can't be right, can it?

COLIN GODDARD, VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING VICTIM: The American people need to express their outrage directly to their representatives on every single level. This is something that will change when the American people want it to change. Shooting after shooting, we hear words. We see letters. And then they shrug their shoulders and that's it. That can no longer happen.

We need to hold these people directly accountable. These people being their representatives, for doing the bidding of people who profit from selling firearms to anybody, and that ultimately end up killing innocent people. This is insane that in this world and this modern country that we have to have this conversation. It is way overdue.

MORGAN: It's way overdue. And let me reclarify what I said at the start of this program. I respect the Second Amendment. I respect the average Americans' right to defend themselves in their own homes with a firearm, if they need to. This is a totally different issue that we're talking about today. It's got nothing to do with that right whatsoever.

Mr. Kopel, if you want to come back when it suits you and when you feel the time is right, I will be waiting any time to debate this with you. Thank you now, all of you.

We're going to move on. When I come back, I'll ask the man who was shot with Gabrielle Giffords what he would do to change gun laws.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: Ron Barber was a top aide to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot down earlier this year -- last year. He was shot at well. Six people died in that attack, including a nine year old girl. And Bob won the special election to replace Giffords when she stepped down earlier this year. He joins me now.

Ron Barber, today must have brought been extremely difficult memories for you. What was your reaction to what happened?

REP. RON BARBER (D), ARIZONA: Well, it did bring back some terrible memories. Obviously I learned about the shooting as I was boarding my plane this morning to come back from Washington, to come home for the weekend. I'll be meeting with constituents tomorrow. I'm sure I will hear a lot about this when I meet with them.

It did, as I say, bring back some pretty terrible memories. I was listening earlier when you were interviewing the family, Jamie and his family. And I was very moved. In fact, I have to tell you, I'm very emotional coming out of hearing that interview about the tragedy -- the almost tragedy that happened to that family and the loss of 12 people, more injured.

We hope they all survive. Having been through this a year and a half ago, on a smaller scale, thank God, but still it has a lot of similarities. I know what's going on right now with those families who have lost loved ones and who are waiting to see their other loved ones recover. I'm thinking back, for example, to the phone call that my wife got from someone who was at Congress on Your Corner when the shooting occurred, telling her that your husband has been shot.

And she said is he alive? And the woman said to her he's still with us. And I know conversations like that have been going on since the shooting started. And all I can say is I'm heartbroken with what I know what's going on in Aurora with those families who have lost relatives and friends and those who are still recovering.

It's a tragic event. And one would hope it never happens again. And I'm just heartbroken for the families. And I just want them to know how deeply I feel about this and how personal this is with me.

MORGAN: Ron, it is -- no one can speak more eloquently about this than you can. I can't let you go without asking you about the gun control debate. You're a politician. You're going to be responsible for trying to force through some changes to this. Do you think it's possible? Do you think that Washington is going to wake up tomorrow, perhaps, and realize that America simply can't keep having this number of outrages involving guns?

BARBER: Well, I think any decision of serious political issues or policy issues are not going to be had now. And I'll tell you why. In my month in the Congress -- I've been sworn in a month ago. What I know is going on is very little. We have passed some important legislation. The Department of Defense budget yesterday and a week or so ago a budget that will help us build our infrastructure and transportation.

But between now and the election, I really believe that very little is going to be said about major policy issues, including this one. Right now I'm just heartsick over what happened. I have to say, it's deeply moving to me in so many levels about the families that have lost loved ones. And I remember what my wife and family were going through. And I know that's happening over and over again in Aurora.

And I want to say to the people of Aurora, know that we're with you. We care about you. We're sending our prayers to you. Hold on to each other. And please, you know, have hope and look forward to a brighter tomorrow, even though today looks very dark.

MORGAN: Ron Barber, thank you very much for those very powerful words. We'll be back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: One of the victims of the Colorado shooting was Jessica Ghawi. The young woman moved to Denver to follow her dream of being a sportscaster. In a tragic twist, she died after narrowly escaping death last month when a gunman opened in a Toronto shopping mall. Joining me now is her boyfriend, Jay Meloff.

Jay, first of all, let me offer you my deepest and most sincere condolences on this appalling loss for you, particularly awful given what she had gone through in Toronto so soon before this. How are you bearing up? What are your feelings about what's happened here today?

JAY MELOFF, BOYFRIEND OF VICTIM: First of all, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. A lot of people have been contacting me, people I don't know, saying they feel for me and Jesse's family. I can't really describe how I feel right now. It still hasn't set in fully. I still can't believe it. I mean, I still think -- I can't believe she's not here still.

And I just want to make sure that as much as the attention as possible is on Jessie and the other lives lost, and that as little attention is paid to the person who did this. That's just what I feel. That's all I can really think about.

MORGAN: Jay, I can see how difficult this is for you. It's the end of our show. I can't think of a more powerful, eloquent way to end it. I'd just send you again my deepest sympathies of your loss, on what has been an awful day for America, and my thoughts are with all the families of all those who lost loved ones today. Thank you very much.

And that's all for us tonight. "AC 360" starts now.

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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/acd.html

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
12 Dead, 59 Injured in Colorado Theater Mass Shooting
Aired July 20, 2012 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper coming to you live from Aurora, Colorado.

There is obviously a lot happening right now. Including efforts to defuse or blow up what may be a booby trapped apartment about four miles from my location right here near the movie theater where this massacre took place, the suspect's apparent apartment.

And new details tonight about the man police say committed last night's mass shooting here in Aurora Colorado, seen as one of the nation's worst mass shooting.

But before we go any further, those kind of breaking developments, while important, obscure our view of the people who are truly at the center of what has happened here, not the suspect whose name we will tell you and we will tell you what we know about him coming up. But the 71 people he's accused of attempting to kill, 12 who have died.

We know only one so far by name. This woman, Jessica Ghawi, a journalist and blogger who also went by the name of Jessica Redfield. She narrowly escaped a similar but less deadly shooting last month in Toronto. She was only 24-years-old. I'm going to talk to her brother shortly tonight in the hour ahead.

She's the only fatality identified so far. We would tell you more of their names, more of who they were, because we think it's important tonight to focus on the victims in this. Yes, we'll tell you about the shooter and, yes, we'll talk about how he got access to weapons. But all those kinds of debates perhaps can wait at least for though hour. We want to focus on the victims and those who have survived.

There were military personnel as well in the theater, in theater number nine, at the Century 16 complex last night. One sailor's unaccounted for, presumably killed, along with ten others. Their families either have or will be notified. They'll be mourned and their stories told. So many -- so many stories will emerge tonight of survival, of loss, of the tragically fine and utterly random line between the two, the fine line between good and bad fortune, between hugging a loved one who made it out safely and burying one who didn't.

People who spent the day at a police staging area in a high school nearby, not knowing if their son or daughter, mother, father, was dead or alive, waiting for word. Hours ago, we were told that the ten victims who were killed inside that theater were still inside the theater. We haven't got be any updates of that. So, for all we know right now, they are still there, inside theater number nine.

There were a lot -- there's a lot to get you up to date. Take a look at this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

COOPER: People quickly realized what initially appeared to be some kind of promotional stunt for the Batman premiere, that's what some people thought. They were watching a promotional stunt. It was in fact a shooting, what turned into a massacre.

We'll tell as best we can the suspect's story, searching for clues to what motivated James Holmes. Authorities say that suit up in body armor, grab tear gas and unleash three firearms and shoot 71 people and leave a booby trapped apartment rigged to explode for authorities to defuse. And that's what they are trying to do right now. Our Randi Kaye is there and we'll take you there shortly.

We'll tell you who the suspect is. A guy who told police he was the Joker. But apparently dyed his hair red. We'll tell you where he bought the weapons he allegedly used, how he became the mass murder, authorities now say, he is, at least what we know.

We're going to look at how this story fits with and differs from what we've come to expect. And how people here are coping nationwide. Flags are flying at half-staff. This is a state, a country, in mourning. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have suspended campaigning for the moment, campaigning for the day. The president was awakened about 5:30 with the news. Spoke about it earlier this morning. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will take every step possible to ensure the safety of all of our people. We're going to stand by our neighbors in Colorado during this extraordinarily difficult time. I had a chance to speak with the mayor of Aurora as well as the governor of Colorado to express not just on behalf of Michelle and myself but the entire American family how heartbroken we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: A short time later, Mitt Romney offered his condolences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Each one of us will hold our kids a little closer, linger a bit longer with a colleague or a neighbor, reach out to a family member or friend. We'll all spend a little less time thinking about the worries of our day. And more time wondering about how to help those who are in need of compassion most. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, that sentiment and the president's, they both speak volumes. And we are going to our best tonight to honor them as we bring you late developments throughout the hour and throughout the night.

I want to start though, just after midnight last night. What we know about what happened inside theater nine. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): It's about 12:30 a.m., 20 minutes or so into the sold-out premiere of "the dark knight rises." A gunman dressed head to toe in bullet proof gear and a gas mask, drills a canister what may have been a teargas into the room through the exit door which he propped open earlier after purchasing a ticket to the movie and sneaking out of the theater. The canister ignites causing confusion among theater goers who don't yet realize the danger they're in.

DONOVAN TATE, WITNESS: When this popping started happening, I thought it was fireworks, like someone playing a prank or joke or something, you know, but then some smoke started rising in the lower right corner of the theater.
COOPER: Witnesses say the gunman enters the theater, first fired at the ceiling, then turns his gun on the crowd.

JENNIFER SEEGER, WITNESS: When he went straight for the air, he came down with his gun in my face. He was about three feet away from me at that point. In that instant, I honestly didn't know what to do. I was terrified.

COOPER: The terror spreads. Eyewitness described the gunman as, quote, "calmly firing into the crowd."

CHRIS RAMOS, WITNESS: Somehow, I got my little sister. I grab her. Then we just go down on the ground. Hiding below, like, the chairs. And the guy's just standing right by the exit, just firing away. He's not aiming at a specific person. He's just aiming everywhere. Trying to hit as many people as he can. All I remember is, like, I was down be the ground. I was covering myself. Right when I was going up, like the tear gas was getting me. My eyes were, like, watery. I was, like, crying, like a girl felt weird. And I felt like I was bleeding from my nose. Like it was hard to breathe. So, I kept on going down. Like ducking down. Telling my sister to go forward. Pushing her forward. Where there's like guys, girls, running on top of me, jumping away from the seats, just trying to escape it the guy was firing. Like the shooting lasted probably like a minute or two minutes.

COOPER: The gunman doesn't discriminate. Children are also shot. This mother's wounded in the leg as she tried to escape the gunfire with her 4-month-old son and 4-year-old daughter. PATRICIA LEGARETTA, WITNESS: I just grabbed the baby and I just drugged -- I just grabbed my daughter and just got her out as fast as I could and just ran out. I didn't turn around. I didn't look behind me. I just got out. Then there was a moment where my daughter -- tripped and I just pulled her up, dragging her, just thinking, we got to get out. I just got to get out the doors. Even if I just fall dead, just get my kids out here. It was -- it was just so horrible.

COOPER: At 12:39 a.m. the first calls come into 911.

911 FEMALE DISPATCHER: 315 and 314, first shooting at Century Theaters 14 300 East Alameda Avenue. They're saying somebody's shoot in the auditorium.

COOPER: Police arrive within 90 seconds to soon learn that 71 people have been wounded. The cell phone video shows panicked and bloody victims streaming out of the theater. Inside, ten people are dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE: We need rescue inside the auditorium, multiple victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE: I got seven down in theater nine! Seven down!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE: I've got a child victim. I need rescue at the back door, theater nine, now.

COOPER: Two more victims later die at the hospital. Bringing the death toll so far to 12.

TATE: There was this one guy who was on all fours crawling, there was this girl spitting up blood. There were bullet holes in some people's backs, some people's arms. There was this one guy who was stripped down to like his Boxers. It looked like he had been shot, like, in the back.

COOPER: While the police and emergency workers helped the victims, the suspect is spotted standing by a white car in the parking lot of the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE: I need a marked car behind the theater stable side, the suspect in a gas mask. Everyone, hold the air, one second. Cars where that white car in the rear of the lot is that our suspect?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE: Yes! We've got rifles, gas masks. He's detained right now. I've got an open door going into the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE: OK, hold that position, hold your suspect!

COOPER: Within seven minutes of the first 911 call, the gunman surrenders to police. He's identified as 24-year-old James Holmes. A student in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado's neuroscience Ph.D. program. Holmes, who lives just four miles from the movie theater, tells police he's left a bomb in his third floor apartment.

DANIEL OATES, CHIEF POLICE, AURORA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We are not sure what we're dealing with in the home. They appear to be incendiary devices. There are some chemical elements there and there are also some incendiary elements. They're linked together with all kinds of wires. It's a lay man. It's not something I've ever seen before.

COOPER: Police won't speculate on a motive for Holmes who's now in custody awaiting his first court appearance on Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Obviously, the theater now over my shoulder is closed off. Police are still scouring it. And nearby, as I said about four miles from here at the suspect's apartment, there was also another police cordon where they -- bomb units are on the scene. They're very carefully trying to figure out how to defuse whatever devices may be inside Mr. Holmes apartment. Our Randi Kaye's there. We'll go to her shortly.

This is happening though, in a city recently named as one of the ten safest in the country where some are taken as a sign of America's ongoing epidemic of violence, however you want to interpret it. In fact, it simply underscores deranged acts of mass murder can and do happen anywhere. Whether it's a massacre at a youth camp in Norway, the shooting in a mall in Toronto, a school shooting at Columbine, or last night this, last night here.

Joining me now are two survivors, Emma Goos and Marcus Weaver. Both of whom were in theater number nine. Where were you sitting when the gunman came?

EMMA GOOS, EYEWITNESS: We were sitting close to the emergency exit that he entered in. We were about four rows back on the flatter plain of the theater because it's split into two sections. The raised section and the very front.

COOPER: So, what did you first see?

GOOS: We saw him kick off the door and then take a couple steps forward and sort of plant his feet very wide apart and look around. All in the span of like three seconds.

COOPER: Did you see him in a gas mask?

GOOS: Yes, he was wearing a gas mask, wearing the full armor. He had arm pads and leg pads. And he was taking very wide steps because of that. He seemed to be struggling with all the weight. I saw the huge gun he was carrying. And the canister of gas that he lobbed over the audience.

COOPER: And Marcus, where were you sitting, what did you see? MARCUS WEAVER, EYEWITNESS: When he first came out, after the smoke bomb, I went across the theater and it hit the other side and it was smoking and smelling. We all thought maybe it was a, you know, a prank or something that went along with the movie. Then, the next two shots like hit the front row. Almost like it hit the iron. Made like it was fireworks. And then the barrage of shots started changing out. And all you could see is the dust from the -- the smoke bomb or the -- the spray. And just him shooting and just this white light and this huge, like, boom, boom, boom. And it went of six to eight times.

And so at that point, my friend Rebecca and the people next to me, we ducked for cover. And we were behind -- just a little -- it would seem like it was only like six inches of seat from the next step down in the stadium seating. So we just held on for dear life, hoping the bullets didn't hit us. But it was hitting chairs. It was hitting people. People are topping over us.

COOPER: When did you realize you had been hit?

WEAVER: I didn't realize I was hit till actually I got outside, but --

COOPER: So you didn't feel the bullet enter you?

WEAVER: No, I think I had such an adrenaline rush till I got outside and everybody was coming, are you injured, are you injured?

COOPER: Because your shirt was bloody?

WEAVER: Yes, I got sprayed with some bullets right there.

COOPER: And how is your arm now? Obviously, it is --

WEAVER: Well, it's got -- still got the two holes right there, where they entered and I thought it might have --.

COOPER: This is where the bullet entered?

WEAVER: Fortunate it didn't enter anywhere else because it had done some damaged. And then, the shrapnel still like on my shoulder right here.
COOPER: So, shrapnel still inside your shoulder?

WEAVER: Sure.

COOPER: Are they going to take that out?

WEAVER: They said they're going to wait. Because it's a complicated surgery because of the muscle. So, I might never heal. They might not be able to repair it.

COOPER: How was your friend?

WEAVER: My friend, she's still missing. Her name is Rebecca Wingo. And there was a report somewhere between on good will where they were looking on the internet, her friend and family and her dad has called me. And so, they've been search in the hospitals. And she's yet to be found.

What happened was when we got up off the ground, there was a moment where he stopped shooting. And so I picked her up and she had blood all over her face. And her body was bloodied. She was unconscious. So, I tried to pick her up with my left hand and get her through the row but there were people trampling over the seating coming down. There were people in my aisle who were, like, laying down, injured, dead, crying. I mean, it was awful. So I ended up tripping and then had to set her down. And then, at that point, I realized once he started shooting again, that's when probably I might have got the injury because when I was laying down, I was on this side where the bullets were coming so it had to be during that period. Then I ran out and there were three other movies trying to merge to get out the door. It was just a mess when --

COOPER: Emma, you actually went into theater number eight. How did you -- what happened when you realized what was going on?

GOOS: Like Marcus said, I thought it was a joke at first. I thought it was a prank being pulled by maybe the theater because he came in through the emergency exit. So I thought he needed some key from the staff. Once I realized it wasn't --

COOPER: He apparently had come in with all of you, with the audience and then had left and left the door ajar, that's the latest report.

GOOS: Yes, and during that pause, everyone on the lower part of the theater had hit the floor. And in that pause that we heard -- because it was just rapid gunfire and then suddenly it was silence for about 15 seconds and everyone bolted for the exit as fast as they could.

COOPER: Did -- there's a report from the police his hair had been dyed red. That he said he is the Joker. Did you see his hair though?

GOOS: No, he was covered head to toe in an armor. He was wearing like a riot mask and a helmet and a gas mask and he had goggles underneath the gas mask so even if you saw through the Plexiglas, you wouldn't be able to see, make out anything --

COOPER: And when you got outside, you actually tried to help other people?

GOOS: Yes, I got separated from all my friends. I didn't know what to do. And I was on my way over to where we had parked the car hoping that we would meet there. And on my way there, the first responders, the very first police squad cars to arrive there, the police just jumped out and ran straight into the theater. And there was a man who was asking the police to help him. And he was absolutely covered in blood. His whole face and his whole arm. He was asking for help but no one stopped to help him. And I thought well, I have to at least talk to him. I'm not trained in paramedics at all but I should talk to him. And I went over and he had been hit in the head.

I thought he was just grazed because there was only a small scratch. But when I looked again, I realized that it was very, very swollen and there seemed to be discolored tissue. So I don't know if -- if the bullet penetrated his skull or anything but I told him he need to put pressure on the wound. I don't know if that was right to tell him. I was trying to calm him down. He said he couldn't feel his arm. He was panicking. I told him, you know, it's OK, you're all right. There's not a hole in your skull. He kept saying, is there a hole in my head, is there a hole in my head, and I --

COOPER: How are your friends?

GOOS: My friends are all OK, thank God. The six of us were in a group. And miraculously, we found each other. Two of them ran from the theater to my house which is about two miles away. And we thought they were dead. Again, we were, like, twenty feet away from the gunmen. And then, when he started moving up the aisle, we were maybe five feet away from him. And so, I thought for sure that they were gone. It was absolute pandemonium.

COOPER: How are you both holding up? I mean, I know you haven't had any sleep, it's been --

WEAVER: I haven't been able to sleep. I've been, you know, just thinking about everything that's happened and about my friend, who we have yet to contact. Lots of family and friends have been calling, you know, and I'm thankful for my family back in Virginia and my family here. I'm just thankful. You know, I thank the Lord I'm alive and I know that, like, even through all this, that we can grow, still, as a community and maybe this will be a binding force for us because something just -- its sinister as evil like that, I mean, it makes you afraid to even go to the movie theater which is something we all were enjoying. We were all clapping at the beginning of the previews, remember, and at the start of the movie. It was young kids there. There were kids ages 13 through 25. And they'd probably been saving up money the whole summer to go to this movie or waiting for this one event at midnight where their parents let them go. And now it's just -- it's just -- its destroyed.

COOPER: It says something about both of you and so many of the people in the theater that in the midst of this horror you reached out to try to help your friend and you reached out to help a stranger. I just want to thank you for talking to us. I'm so glad you guys are OK.

GOOS: Thank you.

COOPER: All right, stay strong.
We've talked to so many people and heard from so many people like Marcus and like Emma who were able to get out. And who immediately tried to turn and help others. And these first responders who got to the scene really quickly.

And as you heard from Emma, saying rushed directly right into the theater. There are a lot of people whose bravery we want to talk about tonight.

Let us know what you think about this. Follow me on twitter right now @andersoncooper. I have been tweeting about this all day long. Join the conversation on our blog at ac360.com.

As we told you earlier, police say the suspect turned his apartment into a time bomb. Efforts are still under way right now to defuse it. We're going to take you to that scene. Four hours from now - four miles from here. Live pictures you're looking at. We will talk to Randi Kaye who is on the scene. We have a live report from her, coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEGARETTA: I just remember thinking I'm not going to die in here. Me and my kids, we're not going to die in here, I need to get them out. All I could think is if I stand up, he's going to shoot, because that's what he was doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. I'm coming to you live from Aurora, Colorado.

A state, frankly, in shock, in mourning at this hour. Still try to comprehend what occurred just over my shoulder at the movie theater earlier this morning.

Our breaking news tonight. The aftermath of the deadly shooting here in Aurora, Colorado. And the tricky effort you are looking at right here to try to defuse the suspect's booby trapped home. We don't know what kind of devices exactly are inside the home. This is occurring about four miles from the movie theater, my location. Four miles away is where the suspect, Mr. Holmes, lived.

Randi Kaye is near the apartment, a safe distance away. Police have obviously cord bed off the whole area. She joins us now.

Randi, what is going on there? What what's the latest?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Anderson, I can tell you, they have this whole area taped off with crime scene tape so nobody can get too close to where this is all happening. But let me show you exactly the scene here that I'm talking about, the apartment.

There, on the third floor, is the apartment. You can tell there are some windows broken out. I'm going to take out my ear piece here just because I'm hearing myself a little bit. But I'll tell you what's happening.

Law enforcement said that this place is completely rigged, booby trapped. There are incendiary chemicals and devices inside. In fact, James Holmes told them when he was questioned in the parking lot that he had put some explosives, left some explosives there in his apartment. And boy, he wasn't kidding.

In fact, Anderson, it is so dangerous here, that they actually had to send in robots earlier today with tiny cameras to take a look at what's happening inside. And they found in the living room a web of trip wires. Attached to some of these incendiaries that could blow at any moment.

So, of course, they've evacuated here. There are about five buildings that they have evacuated. But they're still not really sure what they're dealing with. They want the tech experts to take a look, the explosive experts to take a look and see what they have. That could take days or it might take hours. But they want to know what they have before they send a human inside there. But they may actually have to use a robot to detonate what he has set up in there.

There were a lot of fire engines here earlier today. They had cranes going up to that window there on the third floor just trying to get a peek at what exactly was happening inside. But this guy apparently, according to law enforcement, knew what he was doing. And they believe that he targeted these first responder because he told them to come to his apartment. He told them there were explosives but he didn't tell them there were trip wires, Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting, Randi. We will continue to check in - check in with you throughout this hour. Also, we are going to be live, obviously, at the 10:00 hour with Randi with the latest.

Joining us know phone is an expert in dealing with exactly these kinds of situations. He is a retired FBI agent, Ray Lopez. He headed up the bureau's hazardous response unit.

Agent Lopez, appreciate you being with us. We saw agents go in with a response vehicle using a long pole with a camera at the end. What do you make of what's happening now?

RAY LOPEZ, RETIRED FBI AGENT (via telephone): Anderson, those bomb technicians were using that known as pole cam. It allows them to view this remotely.

COOPER: And we're told the suspect's apartment may be loaded down with booby traps. You're a bomb expert. You say there are three possible conditions a bomb expert has to consider. Try to lay those out for us.


LOPEZ: Well, the first one is victim activated. And we're seeing that now with the trip wires. The second one would be time. The individual in this case, the suspect, had left some kind of timed mechanism that if he was not to return to his apartment in 24, 48, 72 hours, whatever the time may be, the device would function via time as an anti-forensic or deny the police and the law enforcement the evidence they could recover in the apartment. And finally, the third one would be a command. But I think we can write that off given the fact he was a lone wolf, indicated he started he was a lone wolf. And more importantly, he has no access to a telephone or the internet or any kind of remote control items he could use to detonate it remotely.

COOPER: How much of an enemy is time right now for these bomb experts?

LOPEZ: Well, I'm watching the same video as I guess everybody else is. They're moving with a purpose. They're not moving recklessly of course. These guys are experts. They are very careful of they do. But they're moving with a purpose.

Again, a time is always your enemy till you absolutely know that time is no longer your enemy. And more importantly, they have what they can see and it is what it is as far as the bobby traps and the trip wires they're look at inside the house. So, they're going to take this little by little, slow as it goes. It's not a hostage situation or a victim is not in that apartment that needs to be rescued so they're going to go methodically through and try to do this correctly.

And again, the key future, there's no victim in there. If they have to use the robot to pre-detonate these things, they will, instead of putting someone in harm's way.

COOPER: So, is there a -- there's only so much I assume you can learn from something like a camera on a pole. I mean, do all -- can you definitely identify what a device is just visually? Or you have to send the robot in and see if something explodes?

LOPEZ: I think ultimately, you know, the next step would be, as you mentioned earlier, would be sending in the robot. And the, they're going to ultimately at the end of the day -- even after they do this, if they use the robot, they are going to have put a human being, a bomb technician, in that building to clear the rest of the apartment. Last thing they want to do is put in a forensic team or investigative -- into that apartment and not have cleared the apartment, putting these people in danger.

Again, these are the bomb tech experts. That's their job, is to make it safe, so the forensic evidence can be collected. So, they're going to handle this very carefully.

COOPER: Well, agent Ray Lopez, I appreciate your time. Thank you for your expertise and letting us know what you think, maybe going on.

Up next, you know, we've been trying to focus as much as possible on the victims. And frankly, a lot of the people's names have not been released. We're not going to speculate on people who may have been one of the 12 who with killed. We've talked tom so of the survivors.

We do want to tell you what we know about the alleged shooter, James Holmes. We'll have the latest developments ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 DISPATCHER: 315 and 314, there's at least one person that's been shot but they're saying there are hundreds of people just running around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: One of the young women killed in the theatre behind me was an aspiring sports caster. She was killed in theatre number nine. Just weeks ago, she escaped a deadly shooting at a mall and blogged about it. We're going to talk to her brother and find out about her life when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We want to focus as much as possible on the victims, on the survivors, on the first responders who rushed into that theatre at great risk to themselves and apprehended that suspect just minutes after the 911 call came in.

But we do want to try to find out as much as possible about the suspect and his possible motives that we can at this point. I've told you his name, his name is James Holmes.

I'm trying not to use his name too much because frankly all too often I think in these kinds of situations we focus on the killer, on the shooter, and it's that person's name that is remembered weeks and months from now.

I think this person's name shouldn't be remembered. This person is ultimately not important, that the names of people should be remembered. Those who lost their lives here and the family members whose lives will be forever changed.

But what we know about the suspect, at this point, we know he's scheduled for a court appearance on Monday. That's going to be the first time he's actually scene in court.

Outside the theatre, the gas mask he allegedly wore along with head to toe body armor and police he went on this rampage, that was also found.

Drew Griffin's been looking into his alleged arsenal, his background, and how he became what police say he is. Drew, what do we know?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Anderson, when we come to these scenes and we've been before, we look for the obvious. YouTube rants, any kind of postings on Facebook, e- mails, court cases, ex-girlfriends who might have something to say.


We find nothing about this person that would point to anything that says why he did it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): He'd been living not far from this movie theatre for the past year because it was also close to the University of Colorado Medical School where Holmes was a graduate student in neurosciences. According to the school, he was in the process of withdrawing as student last month. The school, frankly, won't tell us much about his grades, the classes he took or anything else.

We do know he did give a student lecture this past March on something called micro RNA biomarkers. If you look it up, it's about an emerging area of neuroscience, the study of nerves that relates to cancer research.

And the school says Holmes worked in a paid position there as well but no details. Before that, it was a middle upper class upbringing in California, high school in San Diego and undergraduate degree from the University of California in Riverside in 2010. School administrators there said he had an outstanding academic record.

TIMOTHY WHITE, CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE: He was an honor student. So academically, he was at the top of the top. You know, he really distinguished himself from an academic point of view during his four years with us, graduating with highest honors.

GRIFFIN: So how is this honor student, this PhD candidate, this budding neuroscientist, suddenly becoming a completely different person? Dressed and, according to police, armed to kill?

CHIEF DAN OAKES, AURORA, COLORADO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The suspect was dressed all in black. He was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector and a groin protector and a gas mask, and black tactical gloves.

GRIFFIN: Was the person delusional? Was there mental illness involved? As we try to piece this together, I want to share with you what New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly had released on what he learned of the suspect that may have a tie to the actual movie.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NYPD: We have some information I believe most of it is public. Clearly, he looks like a deranged individual. He had his hair painted red. He said he was the Joker.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Anderson, just like in the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, with the Congresswoman Giffords, just like in the shooting at Virginia tech. We're seeing plotting. We're seeing planning. We're seeing carrying out this act.

In those two cases the end result was mental insanity. Right now, we just don't have anything on this guy that would indicate any kind of reason behind this.

COOPER: We're going to talk to Congresswoman Gabby Gifford's husband, Mark Kelly, coming up shortly. When we talk about planning, did he buy these guns recently? Do we know?

GRIFFIN: We do know. We do know an incredible a lot because of the police work. He had four guns. We're going to show you what they looked like. These are not the guns, but he bought them all locally. Two at a bass pro shop in Denver. Two at a gun store in Aurora, a semiAR-15, A semi-assault rifle. It had a large magazine, 100 round magazine. A 12-gauge shotgun and then two Glock handguns, all of these legally purchased.

The owners of those shops say this guy passed the federal inspections. I want to show you something else, Anderson, that we've got just late this afternoon.

This is a receipt you're looking at of an online suspect, and I won't say his name based on what you said, Anderson. But he bought this tactical gear on July 2nd. He had it second day shipped to the apartment police are at right now.

It contained stuff like urban assault vests, a triple pistol magazine, an M-16 magazine pouch and something called a B-1 knife specifically all colored in black. That was on July 2nd. He had it shipped to his apartment.

COOPER: I guess for investigators, was he always planning to do it at this event, at the opening of this movie, or was he looking for some other target of opportunity? We don't know that at this point.

GRIFFIN: I think the receipt from July 2nd as news of this movie was really getting out, it could lead to an answer there.

COOPER: Drew, appreciate the reporting. We're going to continue to follow all the aspects of this.

So far, there hasn't been much information to come out about who the victims are. And I've gotten a lot of tweets from people saying we want to know about the people who lost their lives. I understand that.

We don't want to speculate. We only want to obviously talk about people whose names have been released, whose families have been notified and whose families we can actually talk to. Just out of respect for them, no one should find out their loved one has been injured or killed on the television.

But we do know about one young woman who was killed inside that movie theatre, Jessica Ghawi. She was just 24 years old, Jessica Ghawi.

I'm going to speak with her brother and we're going to learn a little bit about who Jessica was. About her life and what she was looking forward to in her life. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage from Aurora, Colorado. Tonight, Aurora's facing the same nightmare frankly that rocked Tucson, Arizona, last year where former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot. Her husband, Mark Kelly join us shortly. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back at our continuing coverage live from Aurora, Colorado. As we mentioned at the top of this program, the top of this hour. On a day like this, one of inexplicable violence, so much attention goes to the suspected gun -- everyone understandably wants to know who he was.

What possibly could have motivated him to carry out this attack? But tonight, we want to focus on the victims and the survivors and the first responders who risked their lives to try to help others.

We want to try to honor their lives and learn about their lives. We want to tell you about a young woman whose life was cut short by the massacre at this theatre.

Of the 12 that we know were killed here, we only know the name of one of the victims. Her name is Jessica Ghawi. She was a sister, a daughter, an aspiring sports reporter with by all accounts a wealth of potential.

In a moment, I'm going to speak with Jessica's brother who's here. But first, Poppy Harlow's here with a look at Jessica's life -- Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: You know, what's interesting, Anderson, as you've said, this is the only victim that we have identified. The family of Jessica, I've been in touch with all day.

I spoke with her father this morning, and he told me, we hope her injuries are not that bad. So he was holding in his heart the hope she was alive. Her brother, Jordan, told me that indeed he had been told by the coroner's office that she passed away.

What I think is just even more disturbing about this is that Jessica was 24 years old and her alleged killer also just 24 years old. Take a listen and look and learn a little bit more about Jessica Ghawi's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW (voice-over): A fiery redhead, passionate about above all else in her personal and professional life her brother, Jordan, tells us. Just 24 years old, Jessica Ghawi beginning life on her own, an aspiring sports caster who lived in Denver and went by Jessica Redfield on the air.

(on camera): What do you want to tell the world about Jessica, your sister, who lost her life far too young?

JORDAN GHAWI, BROTHER OF VICTIM: I want her story to be told. I want her to be remembered and not this gunman. It's a tragedy, but we need to focus on the victims.

HARLOW: Jessica's grieving mother. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll never have her to hug again or get a text message again or get a funny Facebook picture. That's the hard part right now. Just knowing those are things I'm never going to get to experience again. I was blessed, only for 25 years, but I was blessed.

HARLOW: She moved from her Texas home to Denver after begging her parents to let her pursue her dream job. She'd been looking forward to this big night.

Jessica's close high school friend, Brent Lowic, was visiting her to, quote, "share a special screening of this Batman movie together." Brent's stepfather, Dan Green, told us.

Brent and Jessica were very close, he said. Brent was shot in the backside and also suffered shrapnel wounds. His stepfather says he's undergone surgery, but still has major injuries though is not in critical condition.

Active on Twitter, Jessica's last tweet came around midnight saying, movie doesn't start for 20 minutes. She had narrowly escaped tragedy just a month ago, a sad irony.

Her brother and friends tell us she was at the Eaton Centre Toronto Mall visiting her boyfriend, Jay, a Minor League Hockey player, when a shooting break out in the mall food court just three minutes after Jessica left it.

She recounted the horror on her blog. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on earth will end, when or where we will breathe our last breath. I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That's Poppy Harlow reporting. Joining me now is Jordan Ghawi, Jessica's brother. Jordan, I don't even know. I'm so sorry for your loss and for your family's loss. How are you holding up?

GHAWI: I don't really have a choice. Right now, I'm just trying to be a pillar of strength for my family and our friends and try to decimate the information as we get it.

COOPER: You flew in from San Antonio where you live. You're a firefighter there. You got the first flight in you could. When did you find out what had happened?

GHAWI: I would estimate within ten minutes of the first shot.

COOPER: Really?

GHAWI: From a victim that was with my sister.

COOPER: What do you want people to know about your sister? GHAWI: It's not just my sister. I want people to know about the 11 others and the others that had been shot. Specifically, my sister is her passion and what she stood for.

Her dreams cut short and how we're going to be able to try to sustain those dreams and push them forward. She was an asset to our family, an asset to her friend and an asset to her community.

COOPER: She dreamed of being a sports caster.

GHAWI: That's correct. She actually left everything she knew to San Antonio to come out her to pursue that dream.

COOPER: And she was doing well I think.

GHAWI: Yes, by all accounts, she was pushing forward and making the right contacts and getting her name out there.

COOPER: And she was big on Twitter. She was even tweeting just before the shooting.

GHAWI: Yes, 20 minutes, I believe before the shooting she sent out a tweet about how excited she was regarding the premiere.

COOPER: What have you been able to talk to -- have you been able to communicate with your parents?

GHAWI: Yes, immediately after receiving the phone call, went and saw my mother and saw my father before I left for Colorado. I've been in constant communication with them and more distant relatives throughout the day.

COOPER: Why do you want to talk? I mean, some people will kind of wonder in a time like this why people come forward. I always think it's because they want their loved one's life known.

GHAWI: People are questioning my use of social media and why I disseminate information that way. I've always been all about full transparency. I'm not going to sugar coat anything. I want the word out about my sister and her life.

And what happened as soon as possible, but I also don't want the media to be saturated with the shooter's name. The more air time these victims have, the less time that man gets his time on television.

I can tell you the shooter in Virginia Tech and Norway and not long ago here in Denver. I don't want that to happen here. I want the victims to be remembered rather than just this coward.

COOPER: I think you raise such an important point. I mean, I've said it. I really don't want to even use this guy's name very much. I don't think it should be known a month from now, a week from now or even tomorrow. I think it should be forgotten.

GHAWI: Of course, we're all going to speculate on a motive, but does it really matter? I'm personally going to focus on the victims and what we can do to keep those memories alive, rather than a coward with a rifle.

Who knows what causes or -- he has a manifesto, I don't care, I never want to hear about it. I don't want to hear his name. This is about the victims.

COOPER: What happens now? How do you -- what's your next step?

GHAWI: Bring her home. We want to bring her home and celebrate her life with family, friends and anybody she's somehow touched.

COOPER: Again, I appreciate you talking. I'm just -- I'm just so sorry for your loss.

GHAWI: I really appreciate your taking the time to get the victim's story out there.

COOPER: Take care. Give your best to my family. Jordan Ghawi. Earlier in the program when we were speaking with Marcus Weaver who was shot last night twice last night, he told us about his friend who was with him last night.

Her name is Rebecca Wingo. The woman you see on your screen. Marcus told us she was badly wounded. He tried to carry her to safety, but they got separated in the chaos and he hasn't seen or heard from her since.


If you know or have any information about her, anyone else or the investigation, there are numbers you can call for information about loved ones. The number is 303-739-1862. That's 303-739-1862.

If you've got any information about the shooting, authorities would very much like you to call crime stoppers at 720-913-7867. Our coverage continues ahead. We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back to our continuing coverage live from Aurora, Colorado. Every shooting is its own tragedy. We saw obviously a tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, back in January of 2011, mass murder in a public place.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was meeting with constituents then outside the supermarket when a gunman opened fire. No one can forget that. Six people were killed, 13 were injured.

Giffords was shot in the head. She's been recovering now since then. She left office this year to focus on her continuing recovery from her brain injuries.

In a tweet today, Gifford's husband, former astronaut, Mark Kelly, said they were horrified to hear about the tragedy in Colorado.

Mark Kelly joins me now live. Mark, it was only one and a half years ago when your wife was shot in Tucson. When you heard about what happened here, what first entered your mind?

MARK KELLY, HUSBAND OF FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN GABBY GIFFORDS: Well, this morning, immediately when I got up, I saw a text message from Gabby's former chief of staff who is now the assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs, Pia Carusone.

And she said CO shooting. My national reaction was I thought it meant "commanding officer." So it actually took a while, I looked through my e-mail and then I saw the CNN breaking news e-mail that outlined what happened.

You know, Gabby and I had just gotten up. We were just horrified over how could this happen again I mean, just 18 months later.

COOPER: And that was her reaction as well obviously?

KELLY: Yes, it was, you know, just shocked, and sad. You know, sad for the victims and the community there in Colorado. This is going to a really, really difficult time for those folks. It's going to take a long time to recover.

COOPER: As a family member of someone who was shot, as a friend of people who lost their lives, how do you take the next step? I mean, how do you get up the next day? How do you get through something like this?

KELLY: Well, think everybody handles it differently and I think there are those stages of grief. You know, for me, the first thing was disbelief and shock and then I very quickly got to anger.


You know, even a year and a half later, this is a process that takes a long time. I mean, for me, a year and a half later, I think about this every single day. I think about what Gabby goes through.

You know, what the other families of the victims. Christina Taylor Green's family is an example. I mean, the story you just told that I was listening about Jessica that you and her brother talked about.

I mean, just, you know, seemed much like Christina Taylor Green, even though she was much younger. These are tragic, tragic, you know, stories. This is going to take a long time for this community to get over this.

COOPER: What's your advice? There are family members who have lost loved ones who are watching right now. And there are obviously the larger family in Aurora, Colorado, who's suffering through. What's your advice to somebody watching tonight?

KELLY: Well, I think for the folks that were directly affected by this, the victims, the ones that were not killed, and the family members, I mean, it really helped to come together as a community.

That happened in Tucson. I think these towns like Tucson tend to rise to the occasion and that support really helps those people that are experiencing this. So I think it helps. As an example, Gabby's staff, I mean, we immediately got, you know, some professional help for them. In January -- January 8th of 2011, that happened on a Saturday. By Sunday or Monday, there was, you know, professional help for those folks. So that is really important to do that as soon as possible.

COOPER: Well, Mark Kelly, we wish you the best. I appreciate you talking on this very difficult day and our best to your wife and her recovery as well. She's an inspiration. Both of you are inspirations to so many and a help to so many I think in this time. Mark, we appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: That does it for this edition of 360. We'll be live one hour from now with the latest information live from Aurora, Colorado. That's at 10 p.m. Eastern. "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" starts now.



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« Reply #79 on: July 23, 2012, 09:12:49 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1207/20/ijvm.01.html

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Shooter Called Himself `The Joker`
Aired July 20, 2012 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to bring in Jane Velez-Mitchell. She`s been following this all day, as well. And Jane, so much new information coming in about the suspect. We`re hearing about the suspects. But these victims are on my mind right now, because I`m thinking, just like this man said, they go to a movie theater. It`s a place of solace for him and for so many. And then they go through this tragedy.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Well, we are human beings, Ryan. My heart is breaking for the families, for the victims, for the survivors who are going to have to deal with this. This is a life-changing event for the survivors.

And I think it does behoove us to have a national reflection on our culture of violence. You can call it that. And later on, in my show, we`re going to analyze that. We`re going to talk about kids exposed to violence. We`re not saying this young man was exposed to violence. We`re just going to bring you the facts. Because if we don`t learn something from this horror, this tragedy, all those -- the 12 who died, the 59 who were injured -- would have suffered in vain. And we don`t want that to happen.

It is absolutely incumbent upon us as a society to take a look at the bigger issues, Ryan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. So Stacy Kaiser, as we back up from this and we take a bird`s eye view -- I guess Stacy Kaiser is no longer with us.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We can address that to Jane. Believe me, she can answer anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

PHILLIPS: Trust me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: you know what? That`s a good point. Jane, you`re mentioning we need to learn something from this, and I think you`re right. I think there is something that needs to be learned from this. But I wonder if there is a sense of fear now, after this. If there`s a sense -- minds today.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m trying to hear the question. I`m sorry. Yes. Well, I didn`t hear your question, but I will say that there is definitely something that we can learn from this. We`ve got to look at how much violence kids are exposed to in our culture. We`ve got to look at the impact.

In researching my book "Addict Nation," I found that experts say human beings respond subconsciously and viscerally to pretend violence as if it were real. Subconsciously, we don`t know the difference. Could that be a factor in this case?

Now, we begin with breaking news in the Colorado midnight massacre at the Batman movie opening that`s left 12 dead and 59 wounded in one of the biggest mass shootings in our nation`s history. Right now cops trying to enter as we speak the captured suspect`s booby-trapped apartment. And we`re going to talk to witnesses who faced the gunman eye-to-eye next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m being told that he`s in Theater 9. Get us some damn gas masks for Theater 9. We can`t get in it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He witnessed a baby, an infant, get shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There could still be a secondary device. I want everybody out of the east lot. Nobody else back here. I want this place cordoned off in the back. We`re going to need the bomb squad of Denver or whoever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were these girls spitting up blood. There were bullet holes in some people`s backs, some people`s arms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need rescue in the -- the west parking lot. I need at least three or four ambulances brought in here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just pointed the gun directly at my face. I was just terrified. And I just jumped into the aisle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need a marked car behind the theater. The suspect in a gas mask. White car in the rear of the lot. Is that the suspect?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We`ve got rifles, gas mask. He`s detained right now. Got an open door into the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy who yelled, "Don`t go to the lobby. He`s got a gun."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, throw it in.
I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live. We`ve got breaking news on one of the biggest massacres in our nation`s history. We are learning more chilling details about the madman who killed 12 people and wounded 59 others inside a jam-packed movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, just outside Denver.

This is the suspect. Police say 24-year-old Ph.D. student James Holmes stormed into a midnight premier of the new Batman flick, "The Dark Knight Rises," and opened fire.

Cops say earlier he`d bought a movie ticket, walked into the theater, and then snuck out an exit door of the screening, which he propped open. Then he gathered all his weapons and then geared up all in black, head to toe in black, donning a gas mask, a ballistic helmet, and head to toe body armor for his legs, throat and groin.

With black gloves, police say James Holmes re-entered the theater through the emergency exit he`d propped open, set off two canisters of suspected tear gas, and unleashed a massacre, spraying the moviegoers with bullets from an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and at least one of his two handguns, Glocks. It was a terrifying, bloody, chaotic scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She got shot. When she got shot, just, God, watching over us, she saw him right there on the stairs. And she picked him up. She picked him up and I guess the shots stopped going and people - - there was an exit at the top, and she ran out the top.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just ran out. I didn`t turn around. I didn`t look behind me. I just got out. And then there was a moment where my daughter tripped, and I just pulled her up. And I was just dragging her and just thinking got to get out. I just got to get out the doors. If I just fall dead, just get my kids out of here. It was just so horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is gut-wrenching. And this is YouTube video of the panicked crowd as they poured out of the movie theater.

Cops reacted with lightning speed, arriving within minutes of the first shots. They quickly captured the suspect, who was at his car in the parking lot immediately behind the theater.

Listen to the 911 and traffic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fourteen, we have a car shot (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We`ve got a white Kia, white Kia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. There`s another victim in a white Kia. Where is that vehicle at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking at him. I need a marked car behind the theater, sable (ph) side. Got a suspect in a gas mask.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone, hold the air one second. Cars with that white car in the rear of the lot, is that a suspect?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We`ve got rifles, gas masks. He`s detained right now, got an open door going into the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Hold that position. Hold your suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got seven down in Theater 9. Seven down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody on this. We have assault rifle, we have magazines down inside. Need to watch out for the assault rifle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. So the guy`s still in Theater nine. I`m working on the back board right now for that female.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect is going to be a male, unknown race, black camo outfit, believed to be wearing a vest, gas masks and multiple long guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meantime, we`ve got some startling new information. A federal law enforcement source says this man, Holmes -- James Holmes, just 24, mind you -- had dyed his hair red. And when cops surrounded him and captured him behind the movie theater, he told police he was "The Joker." Of course, that`s the comic book character who was Batman`s nemesis.

Breaking news continues to unfold at the suspect`s Aurora apartment, just a few blocks away -- a short ride away from the movie theater. A bomb squad has found a series of -- well, of intricate booby traps, with trip wires connected to explosive and chemical devices. They are working on it as we speak. The police chief says he`s never seen anything like it. Five buildings in the area have been evacuated. Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877- 586-7297.

Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, let`s take a look at the scene again that they are dealing with. Show that video of the officers trying to get into this guy`s apartment. What are they facing? What should they do?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Jane, this was earlier on today when we were covering this wall-to-wall when it was starting to break. And you see right there -- you see a SWAT member with what looks like a mirror standing on top of a SWAT vehicle trying to see inside the windows of that apartment.
But then later on we saw the Aurora fire department bring a tower ladder to the scene and put it up by the window. We saw at least one FBI agent -- there we go, right there. That`s earlier from today. That`s not live right now. They used those hooks to go ahead and pull the window out.

Now, it said to me early on that they could be concerned about possible booby traps. And we found out later from the chief -- from chief Dan Oates of the Aurora Police Department that, in fact, there were booby traps inside that apartment. And that`s what they are dealing with as we speak.

They have some bottles of unknown liquid, wires, string. They didn`t say how the booby traps were set up, but they were using this secondary point of entry to take a look inside that apartment because that FBI agent -- once they got the window off, Jane, I saw him in there with a camera taking pictures.

So they probably took that back, the bomb tech said let`s take a look at this, what exactly do we have, and how can we defeat this to render this apartment safe?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. More horrifying than the most horrifying film. It is real life. The eyewitness accounts are absolutely harrowing.

Jennifer Seeger was inside the theater. She saw the gunman eye-to-eye and struggled to get away. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER SEEGER, SURVIVOR: I waited for him to go up the stairs. I said the second that he goes up the stairs to my friend, Corbin, we`ve got to crawl. We got to get out of here. At that point, you know, I was trying to crawl out, but then everybody was crawling back in, and they were saying, "Don`t go over there. He`s going to shoot everybody trying to get out of the main doors." And he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s our first look at the suspect, 24-year-old James Holmes. This is from his high school yearbook. And then let`s take a look at his photo from his college days.

We don`t have a mug shot yet. A source close to the investigation confirms, however, the gunman`s hair was painted red. And he told cops he was, quote, "The Joker."

Now, here`s footage from the previous Batman film. We all know The Joker is Batman`s nemesis.

Dr. Dale Archer, psychiatrist, I find it absolutely just chilling that the suspect at the Batman flick, the premier, is killing people, dressed or with the hair, assuming the persona of The Joker. What do you make of it in terms of psychological analysis of this individual?

DR. DALE ARCHER, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, first of all, I think he was delusional. And we don`t have any history of a psychiatric past with him, but I`ll be willing to bet there were warning signs out there.

First of all, he left school a month ago. So that clearly indicates that something wasn`t right.

But this is a guy that built his life and a fantasy world obviously around Batman and all of the Batman movies. And in this particular case, the fantasy built and built and built. I think he had a psychotic break. And then the fantasy, he decided to turn into reality with chilling results.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: At first, these poor people at the midnight premier of the showing of "Batman" didn`t even know -- they thought it was actually -- this gunman in full body armor was part of the show and that the sounds were from the film, from the movie itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIUS HARVEY, SHOOTING WITNESS: In the bottom right corner all you see is flashes of light and loud sounds. But it also climaxed with the movie. So you couldn`t really tell. And once I heard people screaming and yelling, "Get down," I realized the seriousness of the situation. And from there I tried to just help my friends get out. I saw multiple of my friends and people that I didn`t know get shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at this cell-phone video shot by one of the people at the theater last night. And we`ve got it from YouTube. Let`s go to that cell-phone video. We showed it, but it bears repeating, because you see some of the people there -- we`ll show it to you in a second, covered in blood leaving the movie theater.

Law enforcement tells us the suspect bought a ticket, walked into the theater, and then snuck out the exit door. Look at these people covered in blood as they are leaving. And then he gathered his weapons, went back in and just started shooting.

Now, I want to go to David Katz, firearms expert, former DEA agent, he set it off. He started with these two suspected tear gas canisters, and then he shot a bullet up into the ceiling. And then he went for the massacre. What does the tear-gas-like substance tell you?

DAVID KATZ, FORMER DEA AGENT: Well, the deployment of the gas is going to have several immediate effects. No. 1, it`s going to irritate the eyes, mucus membranes and skin. You`re not going to be able to see. You`re going to panic. That`s going to make people less able to escape. It gives him -- basically shooting fish in a barrel. So it clearly shows that he wanted to get these people -- handicap their ability to get away. He maybe fired the shot in the air to start a mass panic. People start to huddle and bunch up and he starts firing into the crowd.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)


BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first I thought it was a prank by the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joking around I say that`s my brother. I say, these sound effects have gotten pretty good. And then you can start to hear them again. And you hear people screaming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He throws a tear grenade. And, you know, we`re thinking at that point it`s part of the show.

HARVEY: All you see is flashes of lights and loud sounds. But it also climaxed with the movie. So you couldn`t really tell.

CHRIS RAMOS, WITNESS: On the front right emergency exit, a door opens, and then from there something is thrown up in the air. And, honestly, we thought it was part of the movie.

CHIEF DAN OATES, AURORA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The suspect was dressed all in black. He was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector and a groin protector and a gas mask and black tactical gloves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: James Holmes, 24 years old, about 6`3", so he`s a tall guy. Highly educated. Graduated high school, San Diego, undergrad degree, University of California - Riverside, 2010. He was in the process of getting his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Denver, in neuroscience. No easy task.

Is it significant that he was in the process of withdrawing?

Also fascinating, absolutely no criminal background. All cops can find is a speeding ticket. And now we learn that he was -- dyed -- his hair was dyed as The Joker, dyed red. And he told cops when they found him behind the movie theater, "I`m The Joker."

This is YouTube video that we`re going to be showing you right there of people streaming out again. Tragically, 12 people dead, 59 injured.

How do you go from somebody who`s only had a speeding ticket to this? And could it be significant that he was dropping out of his undoubtedly grueling neuroscience Ph.D. program?

For that I want to go to Dan Bongino, former Secret Service agent but more importantly, premeditation violence specialist. This was incredibly premeditated. You`ve got -- and we`ll show you this, as well. Cops dealing with this situation at his apartment. He booby-trapped his apartment.

In fact, he set up techno music that was playing over and over again that somehow, I think, some suspect he wanted to trigger, to use the music to trigger something going off at his house, possibly. Neighbors complained about it, but they didn`t go through the door.

And then he comes in armed with all of this, the head-to-toe ballistics, the body armor, the head-to-toe body armor, dressed in black, the four weapons, the tear-gas-like canisters. What do you make of the premeditation as a premeditation expert?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Sure. There was a level of sophistication here that`s disturbing.

My time in the Secret Service, what we found out was political targeted violence is really no different from targeted violence, whether it be a Columbine-type incident in a school or an incident like this that was clearly laid out with a level of sophistication and planning. That took some time. It`s disturbing. And there seems to be a trend emerging here. And I believe that the media coverage itself becomes a rewarding -- rewarding part of the process for those who have had that break with reality.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meaning he might have been seeking attention. We don`t know that.

BONGINO: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But obviously, as an expert, you`re saying it`s a possibility.

I want to go out to somebody who came face-to-face, was very near this suspect. Corbin Bates, you were in the theater. Tell us what you saw from the moment it started, from the moment you spotted this guy. Corbin, tell us the story.

CORBIN BATES, WITNESS (via phone): Hi, thanks for having me on the show.

The story starts like any casual night. I did not think anything else happened. I arrived at the movie theater, and I was waiting for my friend to meet me there. So I already went into the theater, nine. I grabbed a seat. The second row was available, a couple seats.

And I noticed a guy walked in after me and sat down in the very first row to the very far right seat. As he was sitting there he seemed like a normal casual person. You wouldn`t think of anything.

And then he gets a phone call. Most people would take their phone calls out to the movie theater lobby. Instead, this person went to the emergency exit, opened it, and propped it open with his foot. And he -- from what I could see from the crack that was left in the door, he was making gestures or on the phone as if he was -- somebody was trying to meet him there at that location.
And then my friend had contacted me to tell me that she had arrived at the location. And I stepped out of the auditorium to bring her back in. Everything was black. The door seemed like it was shut. And the movie was about to start. Twenty minutes within -- 20 minutes within the movie...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Corbin, I`m going to stop you right there. Could you hang on? We`re going to be back in one moment. I want you to tell me what happened from the moment you see him come in with the full body armor. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We are looking at YouTube video of bloodied moviegoers leaving this house of horrors, the first night of "The Dark Knight Rises." They were there for a midnight showing.

Corbin Bates was right there. He saw the suspect when he first came in. Then the guy takes, it would appear, a phone call, leaves through an exit door. Now, Corbin, pick it up when he comes back through that cinema room exit door. He comes back in dressed in full body armor. Tell us what happened from that point on, Corbin.

BATES: Yes, 20 minutes into the film, the door swung back open, and a guy walked into the theater probably around the height of 5`8", 5`9", dressed in all black. He was wearing a black helmet. He had a black gas mask on. And he had black body armor on. And the only thing that you could make or see anything out of him that wasn`t covered was only his eyes.

Everybody thought that this was a thrill stunt for the movie, just to help get everybody riled up. But he reached out a canister, and he threw it into the audience, which was a little bit behind me. And it went off. And I realized that this wasn`t any regular party -- party smoke. This was some toxic gas.

Immediately, people`s eyes were -- were wet. They were coughing. It was getting harder for people to breathe, especially my friend who had asthma. And within two seconds of after that canister went off, gunshots started firing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And he was shooting. What did you see then?

BATES: He was shooting...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I heard the first shot went into the ceiling -- go ahead.


BATES: I`m sorry. When the gun started shooting, immediately myself -- my friend and myself, we jumped down to the ground. And we did not move. We were calm about the situation, but still at the same time at alert of what was going on in our surroundings.

And while we were down on the ground, we could hear these gunshots going on in the background. And we could hear all of these people screaming and yelling in the background. And the people ahead of me, they were -- they were scared, as well. But I was just trying to calm them down, trying to let them know that the more attention you bring towards us, you will probably bring that person back to us. And the worst -- and the worst could probably happen.

So as we`re trying to calmly guide them out to bear crawl their way out of there, you can hear the shooter`s clips coming from the bullet falling to the ground. And some of them would touch your skin, and it would be still burning hot. And at the same time everybody in the background is just screaming. And the people ahead of us are trying to get them out of there.

Once we finally got into the aisle of -- the aisle -- the opposite aisle -- excuse me, the opposite side of the auditorium, people with trying to run towards the exit doors to try to get back to the lobby. But they started running backwards, because somebody noticed the shooter coming back around the other side, trying to pick off one by one who was trying to exit the auditorium.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kicked through the door. And he was in, like she said, a riot helmet. She said was -- he had a bulletproof vest on. You know. She said he was completely covered in all black with goggles.

RAMOS: I froze up. I was scared. I -- honestly -- I honestly thought I was going to die.

SEEGER: All you hear is just gunfire left and right. Any time somebody tried to just get up and run away, he would just shoot them. He didn`t have a specific agenda. He was just shooting people left and right. He was shooting little kids, you know, like 6-year-old kids, 3-year-old kids. I -- and moms, you know. I`m like 22 years old and I didn`t get shot. And it`s like, you know, why didn`t he take me, you know, instead of that 3-year-old or a 6-year-old?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A cop came walking through the door holding a little girl in his arms, and she wasn`t -- she wasn`t moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: and I looked up for a brief second. I saw he was reloading.

HARVEY: I see flashes of light and loud sounds. But it all sort of climaxed with the movie so you couldn`t even tell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It exploded underneath our seats, and then we realized it was tear gas just by the way our eyes were stinging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did not resist. He did not put up a fight.

RAMOS: The image in our head is stuck in there. And I still have the ticket right here. The ticket right here. And honestly I`m never going to forget this night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: "The Dark Knight Rises" midnight movie premiere in a movie theater outside Denver, Colorado, turns into the scene of a massacre. This is the suspect, 24-year-old James Holmes, a PhD candidate in neuroscience at a local university, of all things. He was dropping out of the program.

And he came, according to cops, head-to-toe body armor. After slipping into the theater, he slipped out, changed and came back loaded to kill according to cops. And police, incredible work, got there within a couple minutes.

Let`s listen to the extraordinary dispatch chatter between police converging on the scene and the dispatcher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 14, we have 14 (inaudible) shot. Wait 240 -- John. It`s a Kia -- white Kia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. There`s another victim in a white Kia. Where is that vehicle at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need a marked car behind the theater, stable side. The suspect is in a gas mask.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold there one second. That white car in the rear of the lot, is that a suspect?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We`ve got rifles, gas mask, he`s detained right now. I`ve got an open door going into the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. Hold that position. Hold your suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got seven down in Theater 9. Seven down.

(inaudible)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got 25. Everybody on this. There`s assault rifle, we have magazines down inside. So we go watch out for the assault rifle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. So the guy`s still in Theater 9. I`m working on a backboard right now for that female.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect is going to be male, unknown race, black camo outside outfit, believed to be wearing a vest, gas mask and multiple long guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the suspect`s car. He was caught right outside the movie theater. Again, 12 dead, 59 injured. And the drama continues at this hour because cops say he booby trapped his apartment, which is just a short drive away.

I want to go out to Kyung Lah, CNN correspondent, you`ve been tracking the unfolding developments as cops try to get into his apartment but are having trouble because it`s so heavily booby trapped. What`s the latest?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they want to make sure that they don`t make the situation certainly worse Jane. What they whey want to know is what do those trip wires -- what are they going to do? And there`s a lot of concern about whether they can enter the apartment very safely.

Now, you`re seeing the apartment, that building right over my right shoulder. You`re not seeing a lot of activity because authorities are being abundantly cautious because of all the information they have. The trip wires, this booby trap, the chemical devices. There`s a lot of concern about going in.

Now, meanwhile, while all that is happening a lot of the people who live around here, the five apartment buildings that have been evacuated because of this booby-trapped apartment, they`re all asking, what about this man? What could we have seen? What did we miss?

And we met a man who actually had a beer with the suspect just a few days ago on Tuesday. Here`s what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE MITCHELL, SUSPECT`S NEIGHBOR: I live down there over the next block. And I woke up this morning to helicopters and yellow tape. And I`m like, "Well, I`m going to tell them (inaudible) -- but I mean to see this and knowing this guy`s down the street at the bar with me drinking beer and he lives right here and I`m on the next block with explosives? That`s insane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: and when we asked him was there any other sign? What did he look like? What was he wearing? He said he just looked like a college student. That there wasn`t anything that would trigger alarm in his mind that something might be happening behind that calm exterior.

Now Jane, we are getting a little bit of news. We are just hearing that there are robots that have now been dispatched at some point to go into the apartment. And that`s perhaps why we`re seeing the human forces start to back away from the apartment as robots start to make their way in and try to figure out how to make this apartment complex safe for the people who live here, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Kyung, I want to ask you about the crazy music. Neighbors reported that there was techno music playing over and over again to the point where they wanted to complain. Tell us about that and why some suspect that could have been some kind of part of the booby trap?

LAH: Oh, absolutely. Now, I spoke to a woman who lives below the suspect. At midnight -- she says she never really ever heard anything out of the apartment. That he was fairly quiet. She only actually saw him one other time before all of this happened.

And she said suddenly at midnight all of this loud techno music came on. It was very, very loud. She called the police. And the police could not respond because of what was happening at the movie theater.

And so what happened after that, they figured out that there was this trigger, that there were these explosives inside. And so she believes that because the music came on right at midnight that he wasn`t there, that it was set to a timer. That it was perhaps a trap for first responders so that when they went in because a neighbor complained that something could have happened to those first responders, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable the intricacy of this entire tragedy. Ed Lavandera, CNN correspondent, I understand you`re more -- you`re closer to the movie theater itself. What are you learning? New information about all the guns that he had were completely legally purchased?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We`ve been told by a law enforcement source, Jane, that the four weapons -- he brought three of them in, an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a Glock handgun, that all of these weapons were legally purchased at some point during the last six months here at three different stores in the Denver, Colorado area. Law enforcement officials have been descending on those places, checking all the paperwork trying to get to the bottom of just where these guns came from.

It`s not clear where he got all of that ballistic covering that he walked into the theater with. We`re not sure where he got all of that. But the clear indication is that all of this had been planned for some time. And there`s clear evidence at this point at least from law enforcement perspective that there was a great deal of planning that went into this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, yes, clearly. And as one of our experts just said, eBay -- when he said where did he get all that body armor, his response was probably eBay. We don`t know that for certain. But his point is it`s easily available.


Mike Brooks, here`s one of the most, well, chilling facts that we`ve learned. Investigators found a drum magazine capable of carrying 100 rounds of ammo, which was attached to the AR-15 rifle. What was the potential for horror there?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, that graphic we`re showing weapons, that`s a 30-round magazine in the bottom of that AR-15. So you take that 30-round off and put another magazine on with 100 rounds, Jane. All he has to do is keep pulling that trigger on that semi-automatic AR-15 assault weapon. And every time you pull that trigger another round comes out of the barrel.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Indeed. The terrified witnesses inside the movie theater say they watched the gunman reload his weapons. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, after all the shooting was done, I looked up for a brief second. I saw he was reloading and walking towards the back of the theater and it arches up. And just saw he was walking back there. I grabbed my girlfriend and my friend and I said we got to get going because he`s reloading, now`s our chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, you and I have covered so many crime stories, trials, this is one of the most horrific things in my too long career I have ever experienced.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. I mean sometimes you just are speechless, Jane. But there`s no question that people will want to know why. That`s the most important question. I don`t think we should justify it. I don`t care if he`s mentally ill. I frankly think he`s probably crazy like a fox because there was so much planning.

Here`s what I think is a really interesting red flag in terms of understanding what may have happened that make this guy angry. I do think this is rage and anger. He wanted to kill a lot of people both at his apartment and at the theater, and he succeeded.

And I think we have to focus on the fact that he left this PhD program. Remember, he was in his first year. You don`t get kicked out of your first year in a PhD program especially not if you`re an honor student and everybody agrees he was capable and smart. You don`t get kicked out after your first year unless there`s something very creepy and weird and dangerous and there`s a liability risk.

And I know that we technically are being told he withdrew, but because he`s so smart and wasn`t failing in an academic sense, it`s likely that he was allowed to withdraw but was in fact encouraged -- pushed out if you will -- because everybody around him saw danger signs. I think that`s what we`re going to hear at the end of the day about what sparked this man`s rage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is a very, very sad, sad evening. This 24-year- old PhD student accused of -- well, he hasn`t been formally charged. He`s going to be in court Monday. But cops suspect he killed 12 human beings and injured 59.

More in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I laid down at first to take cover. And then I helped my friends that I was with get out. And we jumped out off the back of the seats and went into the back exit door. I saw people from a lady being pregnant and I saw people from a father having his kids with him, kids that are like 4 years old. And then I saw even grown men, actually a teacher of mine was actually there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Many have suggested there are bizarre parallels between the movie "The Dark Knight Rises" and the mass shooting that occurred at the first showing -- the midnight showing in the suburb of Denver. Watch this clip from Warner Brothers Pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXCERPT FROM "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michael Medved, film critic, nationally syndicated radio host, you`ve seen the movie. Are there scenes where the villain terrorizes a large group in an enclosed space, football stadium and a stock exchange? What`s the significance of that in your opinion, if any?

MICHAEL MEDVED, FILM CRITIC: I think none. Because, look, the shooter clearly did not see the movie; this was the first showing. It was about 20 minutes in. Apparently that he began shooting.

And in the film, the villain, "Bane" played by Tom Hardy, is the leader of a whole group of quasi-religious terrorists. So this guy was a lone wolf. I think that if anything he identified with the Joker, apparently, who was the villain in the previous Batman film.

I don`t think we should blame the movie. I don`t think we should blame gun culture. I don`t think we should our sick society. We should blame one demented profoundly evil individual and he should be brought to justice.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I spent several months researching our cultural addiction to violence in my book, "Addict Nation". And here`s some of the information that I uncovered.

The subconscious mind cannot be counted on, according to experts, to distinguish between pretend violence and real violence. According to some experts, we react physically to a scary movie by gasping or jumping in our seats because our psyche is processing the violence as if it were real.

Now, we do not know what the suspect was exposed to in terms of any kind of violence from the media. But psychiatrist Dale Archer, what do studies show us about the impact of violence in general to children who are exposed? Because, as I found out, the average American child will se 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on TV by the age of 18 and that doesn`t even include other media.

DALE ARCHER, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, you`re absolutely right, Jane. The younger the child is, the less they`re able to distinguish between fantasy and reality. So the younger you are being exposed to violence, the greater likelihood that this could become a problem down the road. There have been numerous studies that have backed that out.

And in this particular case, if you take a guy who, as I suspect, was starting to become psychotic and he became delusional focused on a very, very violent villain, i.e., The Joker. And he at some point can no longer draw the line between what`s real and what`s fantasy because his brain is becoming psychotic.

And I think that`s why he dropped out of school. I think all of that`s going to start to become clear. But at some point he makes the decision to act out his delusions. So I really think this is going to make a lot of sense once we get more information about what transpired in the last month or two.
And, remember, the fact that he was smart and calculating and planning has nothing to do with the psychiatric illness. You can be a genius and still be a schizophrenic.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. Michael Medved, film critic, you want to jump in?

MEDVED: I do. And the whole problem with this particular analysis is, look, have media become less violent in recent times? No. They`ve become increasingly violent. This movie which is a profoundly violent, dark, disturbing film is rated PG-13. Today there`s material that once would have been rated X or NC-17 that is PG-13. Things are more violent than ever.

What`s been happening to violence in the real world, it`s been going down. And the problem here is I think there is an impact of violent entertainment. I`ve been writing against it and frankly crusading against it for 30 years. But the problem is that it defines normal for people. It makes people more fearful than they should be.

What Americans should recognize in the face of all of this is the last time we had a seriously violent incident of any kind in any movie theater where 1.3 billion people buy tickets every year in America was 2010. Movie theaters are not unsafe. America --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: HLN is all over the story. Nancy Grace is looking out for you. She has got the steps you can take if you ever witness a shooting, a massacre like this one. That`s 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And then at 9:00 p.m., Dr. Drew goes inside the mind of the shooter. Finally 11:00 p.m. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" has the response from the makers of "The Dark Knight Rises".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN GHAWI, BROTHER OF VICTIM: I keep saying -- the word I keep using is "passion", because that`s the one word that describes her best. I just want to keep that memory alive and in the hearts and minds of everyone out here.

But again, not just her, I want the rest of the victims, the dead and the wounded to be remembered. I don`t want that gunman`s name spoken. I want for that to be the name to be remembered is that of Jessica Ghawi`s or another victim`s name. And remember what they stood for and what their lives meant.


SANDY PHILLIPS, MOTHER OF VICTIM: The last she texted to me was, "I`m so excited about your trip here next week. I need my mama."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If there is any example of our culture of violence and it`s not just the United States, we live in a global village, is that the young woman that those two individuals are talking about, brother and mother of one of the victims of this horror, last month that same victim, Jessica Ghawi had just survived some kind of a mass shooting in Toronto. This beautiful woman survived a mass shooting in Toronto and then she died in this mass shooting.

Ten seconds, Wendy, I`m without words.

MURPHY: I don`t know what to say. I mean this is probably the most heartbreaking story I have heard so far. It`s just unfathomable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: As we look at YouTube video of one of the worst massacres in recent memory at a movie theater playing "The Dark Knight Rises" in a Denver suburb, I want to get some final thoughts starting with David Katz, firearms expert, former DEA agent.

DAVID KATZ, FIREARMS EXPERT, FORMER DEA AGENT: As bad as this is, it could have been a lot worse. The armor he was equipped with would defeat the rounds carried by the police officers. The weapons he had would have defeated their armor.

I don`t know why he stopped shooting, but he could have killed a lot more people including some of the first responders, the brave officers, who actually took him out.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, final thoughts.

BROOKS: I tell you, I think that he looked like he was ready to confront police and he had booby-trapped his apartment. It didn`t seem like he was going to be going back there. What was going really on with him? We hope to find out very shortly Jane, what the real story is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Dale Archer, quick final thoughts?

ARCHER: This is a psychotic individual who had -- he`s bright and I think as the evidence comes out, we`re going to see that that was the case. This is going to be another Jared Loughner.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Wendy Murphy, you have the final word.

MURPHY: No, I think this is not a sick man, this is an evil man. And he knew damned well what he was doing when he chose "Dark Knight" to be the film where he would execute so many these people, "Dark Knight" indeed.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I just want to say that I hope that those who died and suffered have not suffered in vain, nor their families. I hope that this leads to a national time of reflection on the issue of violence and how we can proactively prevent it and not wait for the next disaster.

Nancy next.

END


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