AURORA | A day after a movie theater shooting rampage left 12 dead, names of the deceased are trickling out as well as details of the suspected killer as police work to disarm several booby traps set in a north Aurora apartment.
The accused shooter, James Eagan Holmes, 24, is being held in the Arapahoe County Jail on first-degree murder charges, though the list of charges against him will likely grow substantially before his first court appearance Monday morning.
As life returns to normal for most Aurora residents, the president is scheduled to attend a vigil slated for Sunday evening.
Several blocks around Holmes’ apartment at 1690 Paris St. were evacuated Friday after police found booby traps in the third-floor unit.
Bomb experts disarmed the first of those traps this morning, police said, but it wasn’t clear when the rest of the traps would be disarmed. Police said they hope to have the apartment safe sometime today.
Aurora police Chief Dan Oates said crews used a robot from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad to enter the home Saturday. The robot disarmed a booby trap on the apartment’s door that was designed to kill who ever entered the unit, Oates said.
“There is no question what the intent was,” Oates said.
Because it was likely that a police officer would be the first person to enter the home, the chief said the trap was meant to kill police.
“If you think we are angry, we sure as hell are angry,” Oates said.
FBI Agent James Yaccone, who heads the bureau’s Denver office, said the explosives, chemical weapons and incindieray devices in the apartment were among the most sophisticated he has seen.
Chemists and other experts are on scene analyzing the materials, Yaccone said, and the devices will be sent to FBI headquarters in Virginia to further analysis.
Oates said police won’t know whether the devices were legal or illegal until those tests are complete.
“Some of that stuff may be illegal to posses,” Oates said.
While investigators were able to disarm the first trap, Oates and Yaccone stressed that there were still dangerous items in the apartment.
“The threat has not been completely eliminated, it has been significantly reduced,” Yaccone said.
Residents of Holmes’ complex and five other nearby buildings who were forced to leave their homes are being offered shelter at Aurora Central High School.
Officials said they hope to have the building cleared so residents can return home sometime this weekend.
The names of several people hurt and killed during the massacre at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” have been released, but law enforcement has not yet released a complete list of the wounded and dead, but Oates said a list of the deceased could be released as early as Saturday.
Oates said 10 bodies of people killed in the theater were removed Friday and investigators were working to positively identify them as well as two victims who died at area hospitals.
In all, 12 people were killed and 58 people were injured, most of them by gunfire, Oates said.
Oates said Holmes had bought the guns and ammunition used in the rampage over the past several months.
In just the last 60 days, he bought an AR-15 assault rifle, a Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun and two Glock .40-caliber pistols. He also bout 3,000 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition for the rifle, 3,000 rounds for the Glocks and several hundred shells for the shotgun.
The ammunition was purchased online, the guns at area retailers, Oates said.
Holmes also wore ballistic body armor from head to feet during the assault, Oates said, including a vest, leg guards, neck guard, groin guard and helmet.
As details about the shooting poured out, area residents continued to reel from the horror of a massacre at a popular local movie theater.
People who lived near Holmes in north Aurora said they were stunned that someone capable of such a brutal attack could live a few doors down.
“You can’t be in your right mind and do something like this,” said Charles Goree, 66.
Goree lives on East 16th Avenue, just south of Holmes’ apartment.
“This was evil,” Goree said. “One of the evilest you can get.”
Near the theater at South Sable Boulevard and Centrepoint Drive a make-shift memorial has popped up in honor of the victims.
Flowers, stuffed animals and candles lined the sidewalk and a steady stream of mourners passed by throughout the day. “It’s a terrible, horrible tragedy,” said Tim Crews as he and his wife Lisa laid a bouquet of yellow flowers at the memorial. “It’s hard not to feel connected being from this community.”
The devil gained one demon, but God gained 12 angels. R.I.P.
https://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_21123521/gag-rule-guns
we need to stay strong
https://www.cafepress.com/got_bandwidth
Sending prayers from Orono Maine.
I think they should check his walls,floors and ceilings too. He is that psychotic.
sorry to say that I agree with you. I wouldn’t want to ever go back in that building….no telling what that maniac has done.
Sending condolences from Las Vegas to the families of the deceased and prayers for a speedy recovery for those wounded.
I am in Joplin Mo. Where we lost 161 to a Tornado. My heart grieves For the Families and Friends that suffered a loss due to a deranged mind that I believe was seeking Fame. He is now well Known . Which I think what he wanted. To the People of Colorado, You are LOVED. I am SO Sorry for your losses. I Pray for comfort and peace. May God bless Colorado and the U S.
Joplin Mo., lost a great number of lives, I am so sorry for them their loved ones, friends and family members, however those that lost their lives and the wounded were at the mercy of a 24 year old man that felt that he needed to kill people. Neuroscience degree and I just can’t for the life of me understand how he can attend medical school and then go out and do just the opposite of the oath of doing all that is possible to try and save lives. wth!!!
A Missouri corporation called TacticalGear (877) 579-0555 sold the head-to-toe body armor to Holmes, no questions asked. The news reports quote them as saying they sell thousands of assault products nationwide weekly. They are complicit in these mass-murders of six-year-olds. A child at a movie cannot defend herself against assault weapons and body armor. Peace to the families of the victims. Love and hope to the survivors.
From Ohio, our prayers and sympathy to all those lost and injured.
My family sympathy and heart goes out to the victims, their families and the community in Aurora, Co. You, all will be in our prayers.
Hello all, Westboro Baptist “Church” (not) is planning to protest tonights memorial. Please turn out and support and protect our community from these hatemongers. They are really evil. You should see what they are saying about the little 6-year old girl.
Sending condolences from Miami to the families of the deceased and prayers for a speedy recovery to those wounded ones. MAY GOD BLESS COLORADO AND U.S.A.
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Condolences from Canada. Peace be with the dead and healing with the families and those wounded in the attack. God Bless.
The (Establishment-MiB/the sly old FOX) at-the controls—in-charge over their own
orchestrated (Theater Shooter) work (beginning to ending) is a BELLY FULL OF HOWLS/PS.2.4,5 (KJV 1611) to the ‘tuned-in-people’ mentioned in book, ‘HELTER
SKELTER’ ? Enquiring minds want to know?
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who met such an unfortunate and untimely end, as well as with those who were wounded in the vicious attack conducted by an individual who has proven he should not be allowed to continue to live. May God be with the people of Aurora in their time of mourning, and may he grant them the courage and strength to recover from this terrible tragedy.
cannot even go to the show without being on guard..my condolences to
the families….who left an emergency door open..? how the hell did this
monster get in to harm everyone??? I want answers, please !
my thoughts to everyone who is involved….God please help these people
in Colorado..from friends in Las Vegas, NV
My prayers to all involved and kudos to Chief Oates. What a burden he and his officers are bearing now. His press conference was both reasoned and heartfelt. Prayers also for the medical teams working to preserve lives of the wounded. Prayers for the families and all the people of Aurora.
Condolences from Germany.
Our prayers to the victims and their families.
Condolences from NH…..
Geez, the things that happen in the USA with their stupid 17th century gun laws….And Americans are so afraid to travel to Mexico when they have their own enemies at home…
Our love and support are with the victims, their families and all the people affected by the sins of another human being. Nothing we can say will make this nightmare go away but remember you are not alone in your grief friends from North Carolina.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Amen
Sending love and prayers to everyone in Colorado from Van Nuys, California
I am from Salinas ca. my prayers go out to the all the families who had lost a love one and the rest of city Aurora Colorado , God bless you all.
A candle lit
For a moment of silence;
To those who died
During the aurora violence.
May the angels
Spread their love;
Be with them all
Up in heaven above.
Take this time
To say “I love you,”
To friends and family
Old and new.
Because you don’t know
What tomorrow brings;
Life is too short
For petty things.
***I wrote this poem in dedication to the victims, family and friends who were impacted on the midnight massacre. My thoughts and prayers go out to you all.
Tina L.
Rochester, MN
This is what happens when criminals are the only ones with guns. Those poor people had no way to defend themselves.