James Holmes was born Dec 13 1987. He graduated from Westview High School, San Diego in 2006 at 18.
His family attended the Presbyterian church and had large Christmas parties on their front lawn for the neighbors and often exchanged gifts.
His father is a manager of a software company and his mother is a nurse.
They were never known to have weapons or conflicts.
He has a younger sister who plays guitar and attends San Diego State. I suspect the sticker on the San Diego family back window “To Write Love on Her Arms” is his sisters room and I am guessing she is/was a cutter.
He mowed the grass and washed the car, his mother said he was a good son. He was quiet and always had a smile on his face. Though neighbors suspected he was picked on
They never saw him have friends over, parties at the house or any girlfriends. He wore a t-shirt under his button down shirts, he had geeky glasses.
He loved video games but didn’t like shooters, he like guitar hero and role playing games. He favored villians over superheros. (the underdogs?) He didn’t like rap.
He played league soccer and most boys continued throughout high school, not James. He played his freshman and sophomore years. He was not very good at it.
He was on the cross country team for his freshman year and quit after that.
Most everyone says he was smart, quiet, quiet, quiet. he was not a trouble maker and he had a great sense of humor and was very witty if you got to know him.
He wanted very much to be liked and wanted but he didn’t have many friends.
He wanted to hurry up and get through with school so he could get to college.
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Sept 10 2006 he started at UC, Riverside he was a scholarship student.
Everybody said he was quiet, quiet, quiet and smart and a little weird, strange. he completed the honors program and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key honor society. He lived in Honor’s dorms. He graduated in the spring of 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience—he graduated with highest honors, but that he did not walk at his commencement ceremony.
He returned to his family home after UCR and looked for a job to no avail. He took a part time job at McDonalds for a year to pay for school. More than one person said he seemed depressed in not finding work. One said Jimmy didn’t seem to be in a good place but nothing out of the ordinary, just 20’s trials and tribulations. It seems he had really expected to land a job after his bachelors degree and be out of his parents home but it didn’t happen. He landed at a McDonalds part time. He leaves to go away for school...
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June 2011 James homes started his doctoral neuroscience program at University of Colorado Anschutz Campus. As a grad student he worked for the university in the research program in the programs that he was studying—it is a paid position.
He received a speeding ticket in Oct 2011.
Last semester (winter?) he did very poorly on his comprehensive exams and the school was considering placing him on academic probation, but was not considering expulsion. About May his grades fell and he began the process of dropping out of school. He left the dorms at the end of April.
May 2011 he took up residence at an apt on Paris Street(a student-housing complex), just a few blocks from the university. The apartments were about 850 sq foot, one bdrm and one bath and about $525 per month. Described as “not true ghetto, it’s not the safest neighborhood but it is improving”.
Holmes would sit on the roof of his apt with his backback and watch. He would go the Zephyr Lounge, sit quietly in a corner booth and have a Budweiser, but never joined in the singing. “He would just sit by himself”.
A neuroscience faculty member at Colorado who said he taught Holmes said he immediately thought of Holmes when he heard that a student was accused of the shooting. The faculty member said Holmes was “very quiet, strangely quiet in class” and seemed “socially off.”
All four were purchased legally, beginning in May, from two national chain stores: Gander Mountain Guns and Bass Pro Shops
James Holmes bought one of the four guns — the first of two .40-caliber Glock pistols — on May 22 at Gander Mountain in Aurora, Colo.
On May 28, Holmes purchased the Remington 870 shotgun from Bass Pro Shops in Denver.
On June 7, Holmes bought the AR-15 assault rifle used in the attacks at a Gander Mountain store in Thornton, Colo.
On July 6, Holmes returned to the Bass Pro Shops store in Denver and bought the other Glock pistol
“Bass pro Shops: Based on the records we have reviewed, personnel in our Denver store correctly and fully followed all Federal requirements with respect to the sale of one shotgun and one handgun to the individual identified in this incident.”
CEO of TacticalGear.com, which said it sold Holmes a Blackhawk urban assault vest for $107, along with a triple pistol magazine, an M16 magazine pouch and a silver knife.
In the past 60 days, police said, Holmes bought more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition, at gun shops and over the Internet.
In addition to two canisters, perhaps holding teargas, four weapons were found at the scene, Oates said.
• Two were .40-caliber handguns, made by Glock. At least one of those was used, the police chief said. Holmes had purchased more than 3,000 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, Oates said.
• One shotgun, a Remington Model 870, one of the most popular models. Pump action, single barrel, 12 gauge, with 300 rounds.
• And one Smith & Wesson AR-15 type rifle, .223 caliber, called by some an “assault rifle.” These weapons can accommodate large ammunition clips, and Holmes had one “drum clip” that would have carried more than 100 rounds, Oates said. With that clip, he could have fired 50 to 60 rounds in a minute, even if the rifle was considered semi-automatic, not automatic, Oates said. He had 3,000 rounds of ammunition for this rifle.
Holmes voluntarily left the doctoral neuroscience program in June 2012. He was in the process of completing withdrawal.
Doug Abraham, chief of police for the university, said Holmes left the school in June and his access to campus buildings was terminated while his withdrawal was being processed. Entry cards were confiscated.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/07/20/police-shooting-suspect-told-officers-he-was-the-joker/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/20/us-usa-shooting-denver-profile-idUSBRE86J19H20120720
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-suspect-profile/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/20/us-usa-shooting-denver-profile-idUSBRE86J19H20120720
http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/07/20/source-suspect-bought-guns-within-past-2-months/
http://ramona.patch.com/articles/colorado-movie-theater-shooting-suspect-has-san-diego-ties
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/07/21/news/doc500a17ebde3c1291996939.txt?viewmode=2
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/07/21/news/doc500a17ebde3c1291996939.txt?viewmode=4
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Thanks for the summary!
How does one go from a bachelors degree to a doctorate program without earning a masters, or am I missing something here?
Great post! I’ve never heard of body armor for $106, but tactical vests (unarmored) are that cheap.
sounds like he slowly lost his mind. very smart, but socially inept, may have set high (perhaps unrealistic) expectations for himself, he devolves to the villain- the mad scientist who was genius but fails. It also may be it took that long for whatever was wrong with him (mental illness) to manifest itself. I may be wrong but I think certain forms of mental illness tend to manifest at certain ages.