12 Dead, 50 Wounded at Midnight Screening of The Dark Knight Rises [UPDATED]

At least one gunman opened fire at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, injuring as many as twenty people. An early report from local radio station 850 KOA cites witness reports that a shooter, possibly wearing a mask, opened fire and set off tear gas during a shoot-out scene in the film. Various reports cite at least ten 12 people dead, although details are still emerging with at least one suspect in custody. [UPDATE: 50 others have been wounded in the attack.]

UPDATE: Video purported to show the scene at the Aurora Century 16 following the shooting has hit YouTube. Be warned - it's unverified (although at least one fan in full Batman costume can be seen), disturbing, and contains footage of an apparently bloodied cinemagoer exiting the theater.

UPDATE: Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates shared details of the shooting via press conference:

The violence erupted about 12:30 a.m. MDT as the gunman stood at the front of one of the Century 16 theaters at the Aurora Mall.

"Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Oates said at a news conference.

One suspect is in custody and there's no evidence of any additional shooters, Oates said.

UPDATE: The 24-year-old suspect is in police custody and his North Aurora apartment is being searched for explosives. Eyewitnesses say the gunman, dressed in black, entered the Century 16 theater around 12:30 am, set off tear gas canisters, and began shooting patrons in multiple theaters within the cinema before being apprehended by police.

Many of the wounded are children, with one gunshot victim reported to be as young as 6 years old.



Comments

  • jgrant794 says:

    Tragic. It makes me sick that these mentally unstable idiots have to randomly ruin other lives instead of getting help or just doing us all a favor and turning that gun on themselves instead.

  • SallyinChicago says:

    I heard that a 3 month old baby was injured or killed....I would like to know when theaters allowed 3 month olds in the theater at midnight? Were the parents so desperate they couldn't wait until the morning and get a babysitter?

    • SD says:

      It's very sad but that pretty much echoes my thoughts too.

    • jgrant794 says:

      They changed it from the 3 month old being killed to wounded and then treated and released on Fox. They also just said the father of the 6 year old that was shot 3 times stated that she has died. So sad. I am not going to judge people for having their kids with them either. It is late for a 3 month old and even a 6 year old yes, but that is beside the point. They didn't deserve for their kids to be hurt or killed simply for being out late.

  • Megan says:

    I'm so sad and devastated. Stories like this just kill me inside-to think that some random lunatic had the power to take the lives of innocent people. My deepest prayers go out to those lost, those injured, and the families of all involved. The only real thing that can be done to prevent disasters like this is to report those IMMEDIATELY who display erratic, mentally unsound behavior, or talk about plans to harm others. Take these threats seriously, no matter what.

  • Jake says:

    This is so sad. A three month old was reportedly one of the victims. My heart hurts for the victims and their families.

  • Shawn Gordon says:

    This is so so horrible, I am a lost for words. What in the bleep is wrong with people these days.

  • Brieftaube says:

    What's wrong with people's sense of disaster? Yes, this is horrible, but it doesn't matter that the setting was a movie theater. Remember - almost every freakin' day some suicide bomber kills innocents somewhere in the world! What about them? No victim is worth less than the other. This is a new spectacle, that's why everybody reports. At the same time in Syria children get slaughtered. And nobody bothers to even care. Remember the Norwegian Anders Breivik last year who killed so many on that island? Big deal about his case. Months of court. But: What's there to discuss? He killed innocent people! Just like "soldiers" do or frustrated ex-students. It is wrong altogether. Our world makes it easy to be violent, because nine movies out of ten are about violence. Nobody can tell me that that's not numbing and making violence easily conceivable - and easy to be practiced. Breivik reported he had to get himself "trained" to be emotionally numb enough to kill. That Holmes-guy from Aurora just did it, altough - he had to prepare and imagine it before doing it. Where did he get the ideas from? Movies. Yes. And? WAR-scenes all over the world. There isn't a point to take that one case and be all teary and shocked - this kind of sh.. goes on around the world daily. He got the "right" venue to draw attention. The many innocents dead yesterday in other places of the world - who knows about them?

  • Courtney says:

    The shooter also booby-trapped his apartment with explosives and artillery. Makes me wonder why the industry bothers with proper radioactive transport and damaged goods transport, when sometimes they end up at the hands of people like this.

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  • Mia says:

    I read Breiviks manifesto ( yes all 1500 pages It took me over a fortnight and as a trained psychiatrist I was of the opinion that he had been brainwashed, This has all the hallmarks of a Mossad operation. Breivik has been declared insane because that way no one will listen to him with any rational thought, and he will just fade away out of sight. The man is not mad but has been brainwashed into a delusional schema. Those whom the gods wish to destroy are usually declared mad. This case is no different.

  • Noah says:

    How ironic. It's liberal minded people he set out to destroy, yet it's Liberal legal loopholes that now protect him from facing the full consequences of the law.