US military personnel were among the 71 casualties in a deadly shooting at a “Batman” movie in Colorado on Friday but it was not immediately clear whether any were killed, the Defence Department said.
Initial indications are that some service members were casualties and the alleged shooter did not have any military ties, spokesmen for the Pentagon and the military’s joint chiefs of staff told reporters.
Police arrived on the scene within about a minute after the first distress call, and took the suspect, James Eagen Holmes, into custody shortly thereafter. Holmes was wearing extensive body armour and had three firearms when arrested by police, Oates said. He had left one gun behind in the theatre.
Holmes, 24, is a University of Colorado medical school student who was in the process of dropping out of a graduate programme in neurosciences, the university said in a statement. His family issued a statement of sympathy for the victims and asked for privacy while they “process this information.”
‘Suspect working alone’
The suspect had no prior criminal record and seems to have been working alone, the police chief in Aurora, Colorado said Friday at the scene. “His history with the police department is one traffic summons for speeding in October of 2011. We have no other criminal history,” said Dan Oates, adding that it was not yet clear whether he held his guns legally.
‘US flag at half mast’
US President Barack Obama on Friday ordered US flags to be flown at half-mast for six days to honour the victims of the deadly shooting at the premiere of a Batman movie in Colorado.
“As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels ... until sunset, July 25,” Obama said in a statement.
Obama, who was notified of the shooting early on Friday morning by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, urged Americans to “stand together” with the people of Aurora and said political campaigning ahead of the Nov. 6 election should be set aside.
“There are going to be other days for politics. This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection,” Obama told supporters at a previously scheduled campaign event in Fort Myers, Florida, which he cut short to address the shooting.
White House officials saw no connection to terrorism, an Obama spokesman said.
Apartment booby-trapped
The living room of the suspect’s apartment was crisscrossed with trip wires connected to what appeared to be plastic bottles containing an unknown liquid, said Chris Henderson, Aurora’s deputy fire chief. Authorities planned to detonate the suspected explosives with a robot, he said.
“The pictures are fairly disturbing. It looks very sophisticated, how it’s booby-trapped. It could be a very long wait,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told reporters.
The gunman appeared at the front of the theater during the movie and released a canister which let out a hissing sound before gunfire erupted, police said.
“When we got out of the theatre it was just chaos. There was this one ... guy, was on all fours crawling. There was this girl spitting up blood,” witness Donovan Tate told KCNC television.
“There were bullet holes in some people’s backs, some people’s arms. There was this one guy who was stripped down to just his boxers. It looked like he was shot in the back or something. It was crazy.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2012.
COMMENTS (19)
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@kaalchakra: The killer didnt say he did it cause people were not following real christianity or there was a war against christianity and he had to fight to protect christianity (neither did he have a political agenda). Most islamic terrorists justify their acts through islam. No one is saying that all violence involving muslims is terrorism. Fact remains that most acts of violence by muslims are against so called infidels and because of the belief that islam is under attack and needs to be protected. The basis of the acts is in a belief in a violent interpretation of islam.
I hope this clarifies why nobody is blaming christianity. I can understand your frustration as to muslims being labelled terrorists at the drop of a hat however its the muslim community that needs to address these issues if it is to move ahead.
This is a sad incident and obviously the killer is a disturbed individual much like the terrorists who kill innocent people daily in pakistan and around the world however the reasons for the acts are rather different. Calling the person a christian terrorist, a murder, psychopath or whatever doesnt change the fact that 12 people were killed and 70 others injured. Did you see the outcry in the US when 12 people died. In Pakistan its a way of life and people will come to the streets if the US or some foriegn agency is involved in an incident but if its the jihadists beheading 10 army men then its business as usual. If pakistan doesnt value its own countrymen then why do people think any foriegn country will.
Really amazing! Nobody is blaming Christianity. No talk of Christian terrorism, yet?
Joker returns?
Very sad incident indeed......... I am impressed by the way Obama has reacted to this incident.....US flag flying at half mast for a week, then cutting short his speech at a political rally and making a statement that "there will be other times for politics"......it shows how US leaders are connected with their public and their feelings and sentiments....No prizes for guessing how the Pakistani PM or President would react if they heard a similar news while addressing a political gathering.....we need to learn a lot to progress further.
Society is manifestation of collective thinking of individuals. Violent societies indicate something is wrong within the society. One is required to appreciate and identify the problem in order to correct the ailment. Instances, such as the one reported, does indicate problem within the US Society, which has opted to build its values around individualistic values with broken family units and a destroyed institution of marriage. Over the past decade, several such instances have taken place in various cities of the US, particularly in Schools thereby indicating potential degradation in the minds of the people who are going to be governing the US. May God protect this World from loonies and psychos.
Wow, if he was a Muslim, then it would have been surely called a terrorist attack !! Shame on their double standards.
its a very sad ,sick and criminal act , I hope American people will also think of grief of innocent drone attack victims .
The gunman bought the guns just two months ago. I am for gun control and do not support the view that everyone has a right to own guns. But the National Rifle Association is too powerful here.
@Cautious: and what different does it make? a killer is a killer.this very duplicity has made the world a bad place to live.
@Abid Javed: While I agree with you in the sense that the media seems to selectively apply terrorism to primarily Muslim criminals, in this case, it was certainly not terrorism. Terrorism is the creation or spreading of fear and terror in a society or a segment of a society, usually through violent means, but possibly some others too, to obtain a political goal or fulfill an ideological agenda. Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian shooter, was a terrorist - this guy was a deranged killer.
Muslim or non-Muslim, this act was done by a merciless and a crazy person. It does not matter which religion he believed in as no religion teaches us to do this, these are the actions of the individual himself. May Allah give the people effected the courage, strength and the patience to bear this loss. May Allah bless them all.
@Abid Javed:
Terrorist attack has political basis. This doesn't has one. Hence not a terrorist attack. Can be called an attack by a rampaging psycho though.
White House officials saw no connection to terrorism, an Obama spokesman said.
this statement just made me real Sad or evenly made me laugh.. r u kidding me? Wat else defines terrorism?
Such sophistication and expertise without any prior record is really dangerous... Lets see what was his motive
A sad incident, may Allah bless them all with His mercy. The second picture above mentions "two gunmen," were they two or was it one ?
Since you'd probably understandably get the news at a delay, I'll tell you now. He's a confirmed solo headcase. Nobody who matters is blaming anything else.
thanks God, the shooter is not a muslim.
That man is not a terrorist, only a murderer.We do not have terrorists.
terrorist attack