By The Associated Press
Here's a guide to some key
questions in the wake of the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater
during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."
Q: WHAT HAPPENED?
A: Shortly after midnight
Friday, a gunman wearing a gas mask and black SWAT gear set off two gas
canisters and then opened fire inside a crowded theater in the Denver
suburb of Aurora, Colo., killing 12 people and wounding nearly 60
others, authorities said. The suspect was arrested near a car behind the
theater and identified as 24-year-old James Holmes. Authorities have
not released a motive.
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Q: WHO IS THE SUSPECT?
A: Holmes was studying
neuroscience in a Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado-Denver. He
enrolled in June 2011 but left a year later, though it wasn't
immediately clear why.
He played soccer at
Westview High School in the San Diego area and graduated with honors
from the University of California, Riverside, in spring 2010 with a
bachelor's degree in neuroscience.
Those who knew Holmes
described him as a shy, intelligent man who grew up in San Diego with
parents who were active in their well-to-do suburban neighborhood.
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Q: WHAT IS GOING ON AT HOLMES' APARTMENT?
A: Police disarmed trip
wires and explosive devices that authorities said were "set up to kill"
people inside Holmes' third-floor apartment. Federal authorities
detonated one small explosive and disarmed another, but several other
explosive devices remained, Aurora police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson said
Saturday.
Authorities are hoping to find clues to his motive without destroying key evidence in a blast.
Police have evacuated surrounding buildings.
The apartment is about four miles from the theater.
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Q: ARE MOVIE THEATERS STILL SHOWING THE FILM?
A: Yes, though with
increased security. AMC Theaters, the nation's second-largest chain,
barred customers from wearing masks or costumes.
Also, in a rare show of
solidarity, Hollywood studios delayed their weekend box-office reporting
because of the shootings. Sony, Fox, Disney, Universal and Lionsgate
said Saturday that they were joining "Dark Knight Rises" distributor
Warner Bros. in withholding their box-office numbers for the weekend.
The film was expected to be
among the most lucrative movie openings, but that now appears unlikely.
However, Hollywood trade publications Variety and Hollywood Reporter
reported estimates of roughly $75 million to $77 million for the film on
Friday, based on box-office insiders. That would put it on track for
somewhere around $165 million for the weekend. Such a total would be the
second highest weekend opening ever, after "The Avengers" brought in
$207.4 million.
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Q: WHO WAS HURT IN THE THEATER?
A: Many victims treated at
hospitals were under 40, including a 4-month-old baby and 6-year-old.
The oldest reported patient was 45.
Victims were treated for
chemical exposure, apparently related to the canisters thrown by the
gunman, and gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Eleven remain in critical
condition.
The Defense Department said a sailor died in the shooting, and two sailors and an airman were wounded.
Also among the slain were a
sports blogger who recently wrote about surviving a shooting in Canada,
a man preparing to celebrate his first wedding anniversary and a
23-year-old woman whose death announcement brought heartbreak, yet
closure, to her family who agonizingly had to wait for the news.
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Q: WAS THERE ANY LINK BETWEEN THE SHOOTING AND THE MOVIE?
A: It's unclear. New York
City's police commissioner said he was told the gunman had painted his
hair red and called himself the Joker - Batman's nemesis - but Aurora
police would not confirm that.
In "The Dark Knight Rises,"
a masked villain leads a murderous crew into a packed football stadium
and wages an attack involving guns and explosives. But violent attacks
on the public by villains are key components of most superhero movies.
There are general parallels
to the shooting, "The Dark Knight" and the comic book character. Bruce
Wayne's drive to become Batman arose from witnessing the deaths of his
parents at the hands of small-time criminal who shot and killed them
after they had left a movie theater. The Batman video game called
"Arkham City" takes place in an abandoned movie theater.
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Q: HOW MANY GUNS DID THE SUSPECT HAVE?
A: Officers found an AR-15
assault rifle - the civilian form of the M-16 - a Remington 12-gauge
shotgun and a .40-caliber Glock handgun in the theater and another
identical handgun in the car. The gunman also set off two devices that
released a smoke or an irritant, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said.
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Q: WHEN WAS THE LAST MASS SHOOTING IN THE U.S.?
A: The massacre in Aurora
was one of the deadliest in the U.S., and the worst mass shooting in the
U.S. since the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas, when an Army
psychiatrist killed 13 soldiers and civilians and more than two dozen
others wounded.
In Colorado, it was the
deadliest shooting since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20,
1999, when two students opened fire at the school in the Denver suburb
of Littleton, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others
before killing themselves.
People gather outside the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., at the scene of a mass shooting early Friday morning (MGN)
